Tear Stained Scars
by FieryPhoenixGirl119
Summary: Young Sasuke story, when sasuke goes missing, can Itachi and the police force find him in time? Why is Fugaku the prime suspect? Is he guilty? What do these people want from Sasuke? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Everything was completely still in the Uchiha district, not a soul to be seen or a noise to be heard, the moon in its glowing fullness reflected of the cold, still waters of the small lake near that of the house of the clan's head. It is here, where a small child, Sasuke Uchiha, called home.

It was past midnight and everyone in the household was in deep slumber, of course, all other than the tall, sturdy figure that walked around the outside porch that circled the house, normally at this time of night he would be in his more comfortable attire of kimono and pants, but for a reason unknown to anyone else, he was in uniform.

He walked around the corner and placed his hand on the sliding door leading into the room of the younger of his son's, slowly opening it as to not wake any other that may hear the noise, when it was open enough only for him to fit through he walked in and stood next to Sasuke's sleeping form, he knelt down and gently shook the child awake. Tired onyx orbs met his as Sasuke leaned up slowly, he opened his tiny mouth to ask of the reason he had been disturbed at such a strange time when the one known as 'father' placed his hand over his mouth, telling him silently to be quiet, Fugaku stood and walked out of the room, signaling his youngest son to follow after him, the kid didn't know where they were going but he did know that he was never to question the action's of the leader of the mighty Uchiha clan.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he followed in the shadow of his father, they were now walking out of the entrance that led into the family's land. Maybe Fugaku was taking him to the police station? Or maybe to teach him a new jutsu? The thought of it made Sasuke wake up very quickly, he was sure to not fall behind lest he get lost in the fog, but after awhile, it seemed as though they had been walking way too long to be going to the station, he was about to ask his dad about their destination when Sasuke looked up to see giant stone walls to the left and right of him, inside his mind he was trying to think of a good way to ask the chief of Kohona's police force why he was leading him straight out of the village they called home? With no more than a glance at the guards who recognized him, Fugaku was granted access to leave Kohona.

It wasn't until they were surrounded by trees and fog that Sasuke decided to speak up and ask the question that had been nagging his mind since he had been awoken.

"Father? Where are we going?"

Fugaku stopped for a moment, not saying anything.

"Father?" the small Uchiha tried again, that's when he heard a noise of a twig breaking behind him, he turned around quickly out of instinct, that's when everything went black………….

later that morning

Mikoto Uchiha stood infront of the stove, humming a sweet tune as she prepared breakfast for her beloved family, her oldest son, Itachi, walked in with a passive look in his eyes as he sat at the low table, resting his chin on his hands as he contemplated the outcomes of a recent mission, not saying a word of greeting back to his mother who had wished him 'good morning', or even acknowledging his father when he walked in, his hand resting in the folds of his green kimono.

Mikoto kissed her husbands cheek as he walked by, he hugged her from behind as he looked over her shoulder at what she was cooking before making his way to the table.

"Sasuke! Time for breakfast! Get a move on!" the loving mother called, it was something she had to do often since her youngest son would stay up late practicing throwing his shuriken for homework. After making plates of food and placing them infront of her husband and elder son, but there was still no Sasuke, she was about to go and see what was keeping him, but a deep voice from the table stopped her.

"don't go, he needs to learn to not stay up so late messing around if he wants his breakfast" the child's father stated firmly between bites of chopsticks full of rice. Mikoto felt bad about it, but her partner had a good point, and it was her duty to reinforce his decisions.

Soon after the meal was finished and the dishes were being washed, Fugaku was in his police uniform and Itachi had his black cape and white mask, they were both leaving out the door, Mikoto knew it was out of her Sasuke's character to not come to the kitchen right after he woke up, she was going to ask his father to go check on him, but the man left much too quickly for her to get a word out. She shrugged as she dried off her hands, if that boy didn't leave soon he would be late for his training at the academy.

She walked down the outside of the house and stood outside the door to the child's room and knocked on the wall beside it.

"Sasuke? Are you awake?" she asked in a sweet voice.

No response.

"Sasuke?" she called as she knocked again, now starting to become abit worried. When no signs of life could be heard, she cracked the door open and peered in. the bed was empty, and Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. She tried to think of several excuses as to why he wasn't there, he could have left early to go to the academy?

No, his clothes she had laid out for him the day before were still there, folded and untouched.

Maybe he had gone to a friends house for the night? Yes, maybe that was it.

No, she knew her Sasuke too well, he would never forget to tell her personally, and she knew she would never forget it.

Her mind was racing, her hands starting to shake as she went into panic mode.

Where was Sasuke?


	2. Chapter 2

Sasuke woke with a jolt, something ice cold had just hit him, putting him in shock. The fact that he couldn't see anything didn't help, he had been blindfolded.

"wakey wakey Uchiha" a creepy kind of voice beckoned, the child's heart-rate went from high to abnormally high, where was he? Why was he blindfolded? Who was this guy? Where was his father? It was time he tried and asked these questions out loud , but when he tried, he found that his mouth had been gagged, Sasuke struggled against his bonds, though he would never admit it, he was scared……

(Back in Kohona…..)

Mikoto tried her best to calm herself, perhaps he had left early for the academy? She grabbed her coat (abit chilly outside) and walked….ok…more like ran, to the school.

"ahh, Mrs.Mikoto, come to pick up Sasuke's written homework for tonight?" Iruka sensei asked politely when she walked into his class, it had not yet begun and some of the kids were still just arriving.

"what? You mean he's not here?!" the mother couldn't help but feel her stomach drop.

"no, your husband, Mr.Uchiha called in this morning saying Sasuke would be out sick for a few days, is something wrong?" the well-intentioned teacher asked.

'Maybe he's with Fugaku then, ya, surely that's what's going on' she thought to herself, telling her body over and over again that there was no reason to panic, yet something deep down just didn't feel right.

(FF to when she reaches the police HQ)

"hello ma'am, how may I help you?" the receptionist at the front desk asked perkly when Mikoto walked up to her.

"I need to speak with my husband, Fugaku Uchiha"

"yes ma'am, right away" the girl stood up and walked to the back of the building where the man's office was, she knocked on the inside of the doorframe and told him his wife was waiting for him out front, considering that only once in a blue moon Mikoto ever came to the HQ by herself, he was sure and drop everything he was doing to come out.

When she saw him coming down the hall Mrs.Uchiha practically ran up to her partner.

"where's Sasuke?" she asked, her eyes pleading for a positive answer

"I'm going to take a guess and say he isn't at the academy?" he joked, but it went unappreciated by his mate.

"but…then why did you tell his teacher that he was going to be out sick?"

"what are you talking about? I've been busy all morning with paperwork, I never called Iruka"

Mikoto's chest started pounding, what was going on? Where was he? Where was her baby?!

(back to Sasuke)

Things had been irritably quiet, all he could tell was that he was in a forest somewhere, but some of these animal noises he was hearing didn't sound familiar, not familiar at all.

"this the runt?" a gruff voice asked out of nowhere, Sasuke jumped.

"yes, quite a beauty, aint he?" the voice form earlier asked, it was starting to sound vaguely familiar to Sasuke, he just couldn't remember where he had heard it before.

"yes, true, very true……..here's my deal, I'll try and take him around my usual rounds, if he sells you get a 45 percent cut, take it or leave it" Sasuke's eyes widened under the blindfold, what was going on?! What were they talking about _selling him?_

That's when the bonds around his wrists and feet loosened slightly and he was allowed to drop to his knees, his body tired and cramped from being in that position for so long.

Everything that happened after that was a blur, he remembers the sound of metal on metal clanging, some restraints placed on his forearms that itched quite terribly, and a terrible smell, another thing he sensed was that he was riding in or on something, he just couldn't tell what as of so far.

'somebody' he cried out a silent prayer, 'please, anybody, save me…..'


	3. Chapter 3

Mikoto sat at the kitchen table, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a cup of hot tea in her hands, the police force had sent out search parties that afternoon, but it was now nearing midnight and there was still no word, she had cried and cried until her tear ducts were sore, and now there were no more salty water droplets to shed, she sat there silently, wondering, waiting, praying that someone would come in at any moment with some news, any news at this point, she was desperate.

Then the front door slid open.

Her older son walked in, a tired expression adorned his young face as he looked down, not able to stand the pleading look of his mother's eyes, telling her that nothing was yet known about the whereabouts of his otouto. He stood where he was and watched in disinterest as Mrs. Uchiha stood up and walked into another room, she was already emotionally and physically strained, and this was a blow she couldn't handle, she went and collapsed into her bed, her drink left to become cold and stale on the small wooden table.

(At the police station)

"ok, first team will secure all the gates leading in and out of the city, just in case, second team, search the woods, I want every tree combed" the police commander barked his orders out harshly, he was a good friend of the head family, and had known little Sasuke since he was just a baby, and he wanted more than anything to see him back home.

"Yes sir!" the scouts answered, feeling the urgency of their latest mission.

"Wait" a deeper voice ordered from behind, they all turned to see none other than their superior commander standing in the doorway.

"Finding my son is not going to distract you all from your more impending duties, I advise you return to them. IMMEDIATELY." The men made a slight bow before running back to their usual assigned posts.

"But, chief-" the lower ranking commander started, but he was cut off.

"No buts about it, I will not have this village's security compromised, no matter what the minor consequences may be"

"Yes sir" he answered back, his eyes downcast, what was going on here?

"Good, now back you your duties" the head of the clan turned and walked out, as if none of it had ever occurred.

The man dressed in green made his way outdoors where he started his usual patrols, when a young man came up to him, and unsure look in his eye.

"Umm, commander……s-sir, I may have s-something to report about the m-missing Uchiha, sir"

(Sasuke POV)

You regained consciousness to realize you were laying on something cold, hard, and wet. Peering your eyes open, you saw several other small children, staring wearily back at you.

(No one's POV)

Sasuke bolted up as if he had just seen something frightening. Where was he now? He pushed himself back until he felt himself hit a wall, there was a good yard between him and the little strangers, he took this time to look around and his senses calmed.

There was darkness all around, it was like they were in a giant warehouse, Sasuke tried to pull his knees to his chest but found he couldn't, both his ankles were shackled with metal bands chained to a ring that was melted into the foundation of the building, the small Uchiha's dark eyes followed the trial of rings, there was always one right after another, leading a perfect line down the middle of the structure, then he notice that for ever ring the were two chains, fro every chain was a child shackled, on the opposite wall form each other, it was then his small black orbs widened open and he realized, there was at least 100 other children in here.

"what is this place?" he whispered under his breath, his body jumped an inch when a sudden light shone and the door at the other end of the building, revealing what was on the walls………meat hooks like that used at a slaughter house…….chains on the walls that seemed to have only one use in store torture……and tiny skulls pinned as trophy's, officially making this place a living nightmare for little Sasuke

(back at the Kohona Police Force HQ)

"y-you see sir, I had guard duty last night, and I know it was f-foggy and my eyes may have been playing tricks on me but-…..I swear…..a saw Fugaku Uchiha leave with his now-missing son from the village and came back a half-hour or so without him."

The commander stood in shock. Can what this guard be saying true? His mind sped as thoughts of accusing Mr. Uchiha spread like wildfire in one part of his mind and other thoughts telling him it simply wasn't possible roaring out in the other.

"umm, sir?" the guard asked, obviously uncertain about something.

"yes?" the commander answered, his mind going in several different directions at once.

"we have security c-cams if you wish to take a l-look" (**A/N: ****I know they probably don't have security cams during that time but plz work with me here)**

"lead me there" he ordered, he was silent the entire walk there but on the inside he was screaming 'there is no way…'

With a few short-cuts of jumping rooftops they arrived at the southern gate security tower, in which was a little room filled with screens, monitors, lights, and wires. The young man sat down at the chair and slid in a cassette, fast-forwarding it to about 12:37 A.M, 2 figures, barely visible through the fog, can be seen leaving, one big, the other much smaller. The commander placed one hand on the desk, his eyes squinting to get a better look at the video as the guard sped it up until a lone man came walking back through, but they couldn't see much of him.

"can you slow it down?" he asked, his heart beating wildly, his every sense begging for this to not be true. He rewinded the video back up and played it through, this time at a slower pace, and right when the unidentified figure came through the screen, he paused it altogether, and there, coming back into the village with an indifferent look on his always passive face, was none other than Fugaku Uchiha, a man who led the police force, oversaw the great Uchiha Clan, and had a blood stain on his uniform that wasn't there when he had left the gates…………..


	4. Chapter 4

Sasuke watched along with hundreds of other little eyes as a shadowed human walked through the door with 2 other figures. He had a mean look to him; his eyes hard and cold, the children shied away or averted their eyes when he walked past them as he fingered the long whip that was hanging at his side. The other two people with him looked quite different, one was dressed in the same attire as the first man, probably a coworker, and the 3rd person was dressed rather nicely. They walked down the warehouse, what were they coming for? When they were about 6-7 kids down from Sasuke they stopped and turned to one boy who, as could be seen when they made him stand, looked quite different than anyone the young Uchiha had ever seen, he had a green tint to his skin and slit eyes, almost lizard-like, but what did they want with him? The bigger man unhooked the chain from the center ring and jerked the child forward, practically dragging him back out the doors, the other two wordlessly following. Little Sasuke watched them as they left, closed the door, and bolted it behind them, all the other children hung their heads down low, mourning the loss of yet another fellow prisoner.

"w-what's going to happen to him?" he finally spoke up; a girl next to him answered his question, her head still hung down low.

"Whatever his owner wants"

"What do you mean?" he asked back, getting curious. The girl sighed in deeply, a single tear falling from her eye before she answered.

"Some people want slaves to work and clean, others want them for their soul, for religious sacrifices, and others want them …….for their clan abilities"

(Back in Kohona)

It had been several hours since he had seen the video, over and over again, he had to do what he had to do, it was his job, it was routine, and it must be done. Several other men he was going to take with him all had sad and confused looks as he told them who they were going to arrest and detain, they hesitantly geared up and left out the door, heading straight for the Uchiha district.

(Speaking of Uchiha's…….)

Itachi and Fugaku were left to make dinner on their own, their wife and mother was too weak to leave her bed.

"Come on honey, come eat, it will make you feel better" her husband urged, he hated seeing her like this.

She eventually gave in and allowed him to help her up, but she had to lean on him for both physical and emotional support as they made the way to the dining room. He helped her sit down at her usual spot before bringing some soup made from vegetables and a few meat bits. She sipped it ever so slowly while Itachi and Fugaku ate, one ate in silence while the other ate quickly, feeling perfectly fine despite the current family crisis. That's when there was a loud banging on the door, and one of the clan's head's comrades came in the door, an unsure and uneasy look on his face.

"Fugaku Uchiha, you're under arrest for the kidnapping and disappearance of Sasuke Uchiha, you have the right to remain silent……." He went on with speech as more men came in through the door, Itachi didn't seem too bugged by it, he still continued eating his soup as his father stood to his feet, a look of shock and confusion on his old face.

"What's going on here?! What are you doing?!" Mikoto shrieked, she couldn't believe her ears, and now they were going to take her husband form her?

"I'm sorry Mrs. Uchiha, standard procedure", he tried to comfort her as he touched Fugaku's arm, urging him to come quietly, the older chief seemed to understand and let them handcuff him without any resistance before they led him out and back to the station, making as sure as they could that they were not seen by any villagers along the way, but the lower-ranking commander stayed behind, it hurt so much to do this he couldn't just leave them like this. He walked over to the arrested man's wife and offered some consolation.

"Mr. Uchiha, please, you have to understand-" he was interrupted by the woman tearing up in front of him.

"first my son is taken from me, then our own family comes and takes my husband" she started crying heavily as her knees buckled under her, she slid to the ground, her arm still holding on to the side of the door.

"You can come see him during the visiting hours tomorrow, forgive me old friend" he muttered over a whisper as he turned and left her to mourn.

"everything's going to be ok mother, you'll see" she jumped at the sudden touch of a warm hand on her shoulder, she turned and reached up, hugging her oldest son, needing so much comfort at this despairing time.

**(A/N: ok, I know **Itachi** was OOC, but come on, work with me here)**


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N: Thank you everyone who has reviewed, and I promise to work on my capitalization, and btw, the girl who is next to Sasuke is a teenager, thus she is quite smart (for a teenager anyway lol )**

The girl took Sasuke's terrified stare as a bad sign.

"you don't have any special abilities, do you?" she asked, now becoming worried about this new kid.

"I'm f-from the Uchiha clan" he stated, he moved forward abit so he could hold his knees close to his chest.

'oh no' she thought herself, 'he won't last long at all, poor kid'

"Look kid-" she started only to get interrupted.

"My name is Sasuke" he corrected, he didn't like being referred to as 'kid' or 'child'

"Ok then, Sasuke, whatever you do-" she leaned in close.

"Don't let anybody here know that" she whispered, she knew that all it took was one other prisoner telling an overseer for some sort of reward and then this little one will be quickly sold to the highest bidder, to suffer who-knows-what kind of terrors.

"so then what's your name?" he asked, his black colored eyes staring up at her.

"Amaris, my name is Amaris" she answered him before a loud **BANG **was heard and light once more flooded the warehouse.

"COME ON YOU RUNTS GET MOVING!" a raspy voice yelled in order, the other children all around Sasuke began to stand up, following example, so did he.

"What's going on?" he asked to Amaris' back.

"They're moving us to another camp" she whispered back.

He didn't know how but somehow the entire length of chain was now free from the rings of the floor, and two rows of young youth were being forced to march out the sliding double doors leading to the outside.

It was very uncomfortable to walk with the shackles on his ankles, as he could feel them starting to rub his skin, causing some minor pain, but then he saw something that completely distracted him from his own problems.

There. On a pile of garbage-looking stuff, was the lizard-child from before, except, there were blood stains all over his chest and on the surrounding ground……..he was dead.

Sasuke realized in horror what all the other 'garbage' was. There were bodies. many dead bodies covered with blood all piled on top of each other, he looked back as they marched on to see an adult, probably an overseer, stick a burning torch into the pile, setting the lifeless carcasses of innocent children aflame.

**( in Kohona Police HQ)**

"Mr.Uchiha, please don't make this any harder for me than you have to, just tell us where Sasuke is and we can find a way to settle this easily" the officer begged, but he gained nothing.

"don't you think that if I knew where my son was I would have brought him home to his mother by now?" he answered smoothly, his arms folded and only a touch of anger could be seen on his face.

"We have video proof that on the night of his disappearance, you yourself walked him out of Kohona, and returned without him, so I am going to ask you again: "WHERE. IS. SASUKE?!" now he had gone into a yelling fit, slamming his fist into the table.

"I.Do.Not.Know." that was his answer every single time he was questioned, he had been in interrogation for 3 hours now, and even he was beginning to realize why other prisoners would get so testy after being in here, it was just plain irritating.

**(The ANBU Station) **

"Itachi Uchiha, you have a mission request" the overhead told him from across the room, handing him a scroll of paper when the teenager reached him.

The prodigy read the paper for only a moment before calling in his squad and getting suited up, his mission: the location of a missing Uchiha child


	6. Chapter 6

**(A/N: thank you to all my reviewers, and now, on to the next part)**

Sasuke struggled to keep up, his scrawny little legs could hardly walk with the chains much less hike up a hill, which, under orders of the overseer, was to be done, **or else**.

"Amaris?" he asked quietly as he strained to left his foot so that the chain wouldn't get caught on a rock.

"Ya?"

"Why are we changing camps?"

Amaris paused before answering in a hushed tone.

"Because if we stay in one place too long, we attract unwanted attention from nearby villages, now be quiet, we don't want to get caught talk-"

**"SHUTUP YOU INGRATE BEFORE I BEAT YOU INTO A BLOODY PULP YOU WORTHLESS WENCH!!!" **the overseer yelled at Amaris, though he was standing right next to her now, little Sasuke hiding behind her legs, out of the mean man's view.

"yes sir master Akuma sir " she answered back with her head down in respect, the overseer, or 'Akuma' rather, walked off to the end, where he would probably be terrorizing some poor little one because they tripped or weren't moving as quickly as he liked.

"I-I'm sorry Amaris…" Sasuke started very quietly, Amaris didn't react to him so he figured she hadn't heard him. Allwell.

When Sasuke's part of the chain reached the summit of the large hill the edges of the roofs of buildings similar to those warehouses they had just left. At this point he didn't care, as long as he could sit and rest his tired and sore legs which were now drawing blood because of the rubbing from the rusty shackle.

He began his part of the careful trek down, being careful not to slip and fall; he rested one foot on a sturdy ledge and moved his other to the right, his bonds making it very difficult to reach safe ground.

When he finally maneuvered so that he got past the tricky part, he heard a yelp from behind followed by something suddenly hitting him in the back, knocking him over, the only thing in his mind right then was the sound of a _snap _and intense pain coming from his ankle………..

**( KOHONA POLICE HQ)**

"Please, let me see my husband" Mrs.Mikoto pleaded with Shika, the commander that had seen the video first-hand and had ordered the leader of the clan's arrest.

"Mrs. Uchiha, we've been over this several times, I can't allow you to see a prisoner while he's in interrogation, it's against-"

"PLEASE!" her eyes began to water as she could no longer make her voice calm, she was an emotional train wreck, and she wanted to, no, _needed _to see her husband. "I-I am begging you Shika…….let me see him"

He could see she was beyond desperate, he had known this woman for more than a decade now, and it pained him to see her in so much agony. He sighed before giving and order to a nearby guard, who escorted her to Interrogation Room 3 and unlocked the door, allowing her to see the man she held most dear.

When he saw her he stood to his feet, she ran into him, holding him close for comfort as she cried salty, painful tears into his green vest, his handcuffs not allowing him to return the hug or hold his beloved wife.

"F-Fugaku they think that you're the one t-that kidn-napped-" she started.

"Shh, there there, quiet now, it's all a huge misunderstanding" he tried to calm her down the best he could.

"I'm afraid that there's very little chance of that" a voice from the doorway corrected him. Ornlos, the man who had a look that was a mix between seriousness and complete passiveness plastered on his dull face.

"But there has t-to be some mistake, I know my husband, he would never do anything to harm our children" she retorted, a sense of bravery coming over her as she clung to her lover's chest.

"The evidence is what we go by Mrs. Uchiha, not some villagers petty gut feelings" he was a pretty blunt man, obviously.

Mikoto was angry, but the shattered feeling she had had in her chest for the past 3 days kept her too weak and in too much pain to do anything about it.

"And just what evidence do you have against me?" The former police chief asked, a snarl forming on his lips, he wasn't too happy with someone disrespecting his wife like that.

"more than enough" Ornlos started, he could have just left it there, but he wanted to cut the wounds deep, maybe if this man saw his wife having a complete meltdown he would come out with some sort of confession so he could atleast be with her.

"the tape showing you taking your youngest child out into the harsh and unforgiving wilds and leaving him behind, the last traces of the boy are his blood stains on your clothing"

"SHUTUP!" Mikoto actually screamed, she had heard **enough!** Shocked by what she had just done, she lowered her eyes and covered her face with her hand before running out of the room, just wanting so much to get away from it all. She ran out of the building, tears running down her cheeks, almost running straight into Shika on her way out. He had heard from word-of-mouth what Ornlos had done to upset her, and he wanted to have a little chat with him.

**(Right outside the gates of Kohona)**

Itachi crouched down against a nearby tree, they had been combing through ever tree, bush, and shrub in the area looking for signs of where the missing child might be with no luck.

'he was only gone for fifteen minutes on the tape, he couldn't of gotten very far, we should be right in range-OWW' he thought to himself as he stood up, brushing the ants off his foot that had just bit him with their nasty little stingers. He sighed before slipping back into thought, he tried to calculate the average speed of the man he called father and just exactly how far he could have possibly gotten.

As he thought on these things his eyes followed the trail of ants, watching them, one right after another, all walking in a perfect line, somehow it helped him think, strange as it may sound.

The lines stretched from across the clearing, and apparently ended somewhere behind the tree he had formerly been leaning on.

Each tiny little ant would walk towards his direction empty-handed and go back in a parallel line with something in their tiny little claws, on had a leaf fragment, another a small pebble, another farther down the line had a twig, and about 4-5 ants behind him one was carrying a red piece of frayed rope, and another was struggling with a –WAIT, where did he get the red piece of rope from?

Itachi bent over and gently picked up the dark red line from above, shaking the angry little ant off. He brought it close to his eyes, getting a better look, it was some sort of rope alright, and the color stained onto it was all too familiar to the clan prodigy. It was none other than the dark tint of blood.

Getting an idea he walked around the other side of the tree to see where the ant line went, which was right up against that same tree where he had been bit. The line of ants continued up the bark and into the leaves, but that was not was caught Itachi's eye.

There were several more frayed little pieces of the cheap rope that were caught on the rough bark, some of the ends of them had the same red stain, something, or someone, had been tied here for an extended period of time and apparently scratched their skin open against the bark. And it would only take a simple blood test to prove if it was who Itachi thought it was.

**(A/N: ok I don't know if they can do DNA blood tests there or not but heck, that's why it's called 'fiction' lol )**


	7. Chapter 7

Sasuke struggled against the now tangled chains of both him and the screaming larger kid on top of him, somehow when he had fallen and knocked down the young Uchiha the shackle snapped the bone right above it in two.

Amaris shoved him off the small boy and helped him up, Sasuke made it out unhurt other than where his skin was scratched up badly by a rock.

"**WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"** Akuma yelled as he ran over and jerked up the boy with the broken leg by his hair.

"Please Master Akuma, it was only an accident" he pleaded with no avail.

"you know the rules, a gimpy slave is a worthless slave" the overseer stated before pulling out a sickle-like dagger and stabbing him directly in his beating heart before unlocking the shackles and throwing him over the side of the mountain, the child's dead remains rolled until they reached the bottom to become dinner for some wild animal.

Sasuke was shaking in fear, he had just witnessed the murder of someone who had been alive only seconds ago, had he not been in a stable standing position….it could have been him that was brutally killed and thrown out like worthless trash without a second thought.

He kept his head down and his mouth closed in until they finally reached the camp. They were stopped and allowed to rest while Akuma and an overseer from this new area talked; must not have been good news because Akuma turned around to the kids with a scowl and ordered them to stand.

"**March on you little bastards!" **he yelled, flicking his whip to hit the ground, making a loud _**snap **_noise as it lifted dirt from the ground.

Some of the kids groaned as they pushed on against their own will, what made things worse was that dark clouds were now forming in the sky, ready to make things very difficult for the innocent prisoners.

**(Back In Kohona)**

Mikoto sat on the floor, crying into her hands. How could they accuse him of doing such a terrible thing? Her mind went over the entire scene, from begging Shika, to that snobby commander telling them about that tape as evidence, then her run-in with the old friend of the family as she suffered an emotional breakdown. Wait…….the tape.

She remembered the exact words he used.

_"the tape showing you taking your youngest child out into the harsh and unforgiving wilds and leaving him behind, the last traces of the boy are his blood stains on your clothing"_

She thought on those words for a moment before her gaze went to a dresser in the room that held both hers and her husbands clothes in it.

She shakily stood to her feet before walking to it and opening a drawer containing Fugaku's neatly folded police uniforms, taking out one on top, she examined it, it was clean, as was the next one, but she pulled another out and her body shook as she held it tightly to her body, her tears falling once more.

All over the front of this on was a dark red stain.

**( To Itachi…..)**

Itachi immediately took the strands of rope back to the village to be tested, he knew they had his brother's DNA on record, and it would only take a short test to see whether or not it was his blood, but first he had to stop by his home, if anything his mother deserved to know any possible news about her little Sasuke.

But the scene he found when he arrived required some explanation, which his mother did, from going to the station to finding the blood-stained clothing.

**(no more than an half a hour later)**

After hearing all this he knew what had to be done, he took the shirt from his mother, if he was going to get these rope strand done he'd might as well check the other as well.

Only minutes after leaving the Uchiha district he arrived at the labs and requested a testing, and with him being an ANBU officer, it was placed as a first priority.

'_it's only a matter of time now'_ he thought to himself before returning to where he had found the rope strands to help his team continue searching.

**( Somewhere in a dense forest, several miles from the 2****nd**** camp)**

The rain had made everyone miserable, they were all soaked to the bone, cold, and it was still pouring down, only beating down harder like thousands of tiny little needles on the children.

It wasn't until they weren't able to see where they were going any longer that they were allowed to sit in the mud for the night.

"Amaris?" Sasuke leaned over to here cross-legged sitting form, the rain keeping him from being heard by the evil overseer.

"hm?" he heard, acknowledging that she was listening.

"why do they kill us like that? Like we aren't worth anything?" he asked, his tired and water-soaked head leaning on her shoulder.

"Oh believe me, we are worth something to them, otherwise we wouldn't be chained up like livestock" she mumbled back as she leaned her head with her mouth open, getting a drink from the rain pouring down.

"What makes us of any worth to them? We are only children" he asked innocently as he shivered, a cold wind blowing on them.

"I'd might as well tell you while I'm still around kid, we are here because they make money off of slitting us open and taking our special body parts, either that or you get sold to some cheapskate or pervert…."

"What do you mean? Special body parts?" Little Sasuke knew about the sharingan and how only his family possessed it, but it still wasn't making since what Amaris was saying.

"You remember that kid with the scales that they took the first day you were here?" he nodded in response, the sight of the blood and the flames still lingered deep into his mind, like a scar that would never heal or go away.

"you see, the family he comes from have a special organs that allow them to change their skin color to their surroundings, the same liquid found in the organs can be used for many rituals and potions that others find very valuable, so they took him outside, paid for him, cut him open and-"

"P-please…….stop" the young Uchiha interrupted, the realization of what had and can happen just hit him like a train.

"I'm sorry kid, didn't want to scare you, but I guess it was sort of inevitable….." her voice faded out as she curled her body into a ball and used her knees as a pillow, drifting off to sleep, unlike Sasuke because, for some reason, he was too frightened to even rest his eyes as the rain continued to pour.


	8. Chapter 8

Sasuke held himself close as they continued their hike through this god-ridden rock-filled forest.

He was cold, hungry, and quite miserable. Another little 'fun fact' he found out from Amaris is that when it comes to food, your on your own, these people don't actually care if you die from starvation or malnutrition, just more scrap for the burn-pile is all they thought of it.

"Amaris?" the little Uchiha asked quietly, Akuma was too far near the head of the line to hear him

"Hm?" She answered, more concentrated on taking pressure off her foot that had a splinter in it from walking barefoot.

"Why are you so calm? Aren't you afraid of dying?" he wondered how she managed to remain sane through this, she had been there longer than he had, and from what he had seen, much longer and she'd be gone, a thought that scared Sasuke to the core, she was the only friendly person here, even the other prisoners ignored him.

"I fear what happens in life more than I fear death" she stated as she lifted her part of the chain over a log with a kick to the side.

The raven-haired boy thought about what she said for a moment with a curious look in his eyes, he was going to ask what she meant, but he was interrupted before he could speak.

**"Walk on maggots!" **Akuma yelled, from the top of the hill they were on their destination could be easily seen, not much farther to go.

"Oh thank God, my feet are killing me" Amaris mumbled, speeding up to keep up with the pace of the now hopeful prisoners.

They walked down the hill and into the awaiting warehouse, just like the one from before, except with more gruesome decorations of bones and torture devices.

As he walked in and sat next to Amaris in another long row, the chain that kept them captive now bolted to the floor, he could have sworn he felt an ice-cold breeze flow in before the doors were locked and sealed tight, making them all lost in a frigid darkness.

**(Kohona Police HQ)**

"Ok, let's try this one more time Uchiha, how do you plead to the charges that are to be set against you?" Ornlos leaned down until his face was just inches away from Fugaku's passive stare.

"Then I'll be saying it _one_ more time" he replied sarcastically. "Not Guilty"

Ornlos' patience was wearing thin, this man before him had strong evidence against him, he had no choice but to eventually give in and give any confession if he ever wished to see the light of day again.

Ornlos gave up and walked out of the interrogation room, going to go and devise more ways to wrench a confession out of the former chief of police, which he was determined to do at any cost.

**(At the lab's where the DNA testing is taking place)**

Itachi walked into the white colored building, his path leading straight to the secretary's desk. He had been informed that they had found something in the results, and if anything he was eager to see if his notion had been correct.

"I got a call from Dr. Zuris" he informed the girl at the desk, she, seeing his ANBU uniform, immediately called the doctor and informed him of his visitor.

"Yes sir, he's waiting in room 12B for you" she motioned down the hall to the left.

Itachi didn't thank the girl, just walked down the hall indicated until he came to the room with a glass door, large, bold lettering numbers on it saying: '**12B Dr. Zuris, …..'** it went on stating his professions, which the Prodigy didn't bother finish reading before stepping inside.

Behind the door were several desks, high-tech machines, and a few people wearing lab coats that were mixing chemicals and examining glass vials filled with liquid.

"Ah, you must be Itachi Uchiha, I wanted you to see the results of these tests, there's something rather interesting you should see…….."


	9. Chapter 9

Sasuke had lost all track of time on how long they had been imprisoned in this warehouse, which was only getting colder with the progression of the day, but being all curled up and staying perfectly still gave him time to put his thoughts together and think: how did I get here?

He vaguely remembered walking through the streets of Kohona, following somebody, but he couldn't remember who, it had been very late at night and he wasn't exactly thinking straight.

The young Uchiha sat there with his eyes closed, digging deep into the caverns of his mind trying to bring back every last detail he could muster. There was the gate……..then the forest…..then the last thing he remembered hit him like a hammer-

"Daddy…"

**(The Kohona DNA Testing Facility)**

"From what I've heard about this case is that your own Father is believed to be guilty of being involved in your brother's disappearance, correct?" the doctor asked, his hands shuffling through the file drawer.

"Yes" Itachi answered, he knew that it wasn't possible for Fugaku to do this, because for starters the clan head wasn't that stupid to let any camera's to see him or to leave evidence where anyone could find it, it just wasn't like him.

"Well, here are the results" Zuris started, flipping the folder open and placing his finger at the intended text.

"The fibers you found on the tree are infact rope and are covered in blood matching the DNA of a Sasuke Uchiha"

"And the uniform?"

"On the uniform we found that-"

**(Back to Sasuke)**

"What did you say?" Amaris asked him after hearing him say a single word after being silent for so long.

"M-my Father……he's the reason I'm here……." Sasuke stuttered out, tears forming. He knew his father didn't exactly ever spend any time with him, but did he hate him so much as to put him into this hell hole?

"You're not the first one here with the same story" Amaris remarked, her eyes sadly gazing at the other children.

"B-but why?" he asked himself aloud, the salty tears now falling.

Amaris sat there in silence, knowing that the child needed to let it out.

"I mean, I know he didn't like me much but why would he put me here!? What did I do?!" he was trying desperately not to go above the sound of a whisper as he clenched his fists, evidence of his feelings of hurt and betrayal leaving wet paths.

That's when he felt an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, imagine how everyone else here feels, they're probably asking themselves the same question, but if they keep looking at it from that point of view, they'll never find an answer, at least not the right one"

"What do you mean?" he mumbled as he rested his tired head on her chest.

"No one 'does' anything to deserve _this_, nobody" she whispered into his ear as his weary black orbs were soon covered by his heavy eyelids, the first sleep the poor Uchiha child had gotten in two days.

**(In Kohona)**

Itachi held the bag containing a green uniform by his side as he unlocked a file drawer labeled 'Evidence' and placed it in its correct spot next to a much smaller baggy with the rope pieces in it.

'well, that's that, only a matter of time now' he thought to himself as he locked it back and left the room, prying eyes following him as he walked down the hall and completely out of the building.

"Well, what were the results?" one of his team mates asked as he walked up to them, having obeyed his strict order to stay outside until he got back.

"Not important now, let's head back to the forest where I found the rope strands, maybe they'll leave a trail for us to follow" he commanded, they nodded and in a flash they were no longer standing there, but hurriedly dashing to the last place any signs of their leader's younger brother had been found.

**[The Warehouse **

Amaris' sensitive hearing picked up a soft noise that awoke her, but possibly no one else in the storage place.

Akuma.

'And he brought a friend' she thought to herself, keeping still to keep the appearance of having been sleeping.

"I'm sorry for my late arrival, we ran into a few problems across the way" an unfamiliar voice said from only a few steps away.

"No problem at all, well, these are the ones that survived the trek here, mostly all in one piece" Akumas deep, gruff voice said, a light from a candle illuminated the entire building.

The strange man wearing green and blue silks walked up and down the isle, studying some of the children while not even giving other's a second look, but what scared Amaris the most was how he continued to stare at both Sasuke and herself.

"Hm, how much for those two?" he finally spoke up, his foot kicking the chain that kept them prisoners, causing a loud clang to echo, but still some of the children stirred while others didn't even react.

"The boy isn't available, but the girl on the other hand, an Ookami child at that, is still very purchasable" he stated with a smirk that sent a shiver up Amaris' spine.

"hmm, Ookami, I'll have to think about it, there are a few other's here that I have taken certain interests in, can we go and talk somewhere more private?" he asked, his voice showing some snobbish tendencies.

"but of course" Akuma led the man out of the metal doors and locked in back in place, a cold chill blew in as some of the very little warmth they had had escaped.

Amaris opened her eyes and sat up straight, the little raven-haired boy still sleeping in her lap, her eyes filled with fear, not because the man had taken interest in buying her, he had not been the first, and every time either they turned their attention elsewhere or Akuma was asking too much money, what scared her was-

"If Sasuke had been deemed 'unavailable' by Akuma; that could only mean one thing.

He had already been sold.


	10. Chapter 10

Amaris had been unable to sleep ever since she realized the fate of the poor child, if only there was something she could do, but there was nothing she could do here, nothing at all.

"**ALRIGHT YOU USELESS WALKING DEAD, TIME FOR ROUNDS" **Akuma yelled as he entered the warehouse, rounds meant a long march, lasting from dawn to dusk usually, that went around the area and back to the warehouse, they usually only happened when they were running out of room and the sick or weak children would go 'missing' on these treks.

The girl nudged little Sasuke until he awoke and stood up weakly, having not eaten for days, and obviously dehydrated, with any luck they would come across a stream or it will rain. But all hopes of that were shattered when the slave driver opened the double doors, and covering every surface was a bright white blanket of snow……………

A loud moaning form many of the prisoners could be heard, some even started crying, not wanting to go out there, it was so cold, so very cold.

**[ Kohona **

Fugaku hadn't talked, confessed, much less budged the entire time he was in interrogation; he was led into a cell, out of cruelty Ornlos ordered that it be one filled with convicts and criminals that the leader of the Uchiha clan had arrested himself.

But fortunately for Fugaku, the felons he had been placed with all feared him, and kept their distance, in other words, about 12 full grown men all sat cramped up on one side of the cell while the Uchiha sat peacefully on the other, all alone.

**[Unknown Remote Location in the Mountains **

They had only gone no more than a mile when kids started collapsing and being dragged along with their fellow slaves, even Sasuke had to catch his footing a few times before his tiny little bare legs gave out.

"Come on kid, get up, we can't let Akuma see you like this" Amaris muttered, pulling his chain up to support him while he would try to stand, but he never did, the child had passed out.

"That isn't good" she muttered, taking a risk and picking him up, chains and all.

She had only taken a few steps before a dark shadow overwhelmed her. Akuma.

"Looks like I've finally found a use for your useless carcass, the both of you are comin' with me" he ordered, using his key to unlock the shackles on both the teens and the child's ankles and replacing them with chains on their wrists before he led them back the way they had came, back to the warehouse, except this time, that man from before was standing out there, handing money to another overseer.

When Akuma stopped in the middle of the clearing Amaris was shaking, both from the cold and the sudden fear that had kicked in, and with her motor skills shot she put up no resistance to Akuma as he roughly jerked the unconscious child from her arms and kicked her knees out form under her.

After passing the little Uchiha off to another overseer who locked him back up in the warehouse, Akuma stood in front of the girl's kneeling form, a blue glow forming in his left palm. It was then that she realized what was happening, he was going to force her to transform, using her bloodline limit ability to change into her people's trait animal, a wolf.

Pain tore through her body as Akuma's hand made contact, her hands and feet becoming paws and her teeth grew into fangs, a mere second later – which had felt like much longer to the Ookami teen- she was a white and red wolf, standing there, still weak from the past week of neglect and marching.

She stood still as the dagger came out and was pressed into her chest. She wasn't going to fight back, she could have easily taken them down, but this was her mission, a mission her ancestors had sent her on, and she had to follow through, she felt her blood pour out and her nerves lose touch as she became weak and dropped to the ground, dead.

"So, whatcha gonna do with the body?" a curious overseer asked, not feeling any emotion toward the dead human soul in front of him.

"a white wolf pelt like that, make a nice coat" the rich man in the silks answered as his servants picked the body up and hauled it to their caravan to be skinned later, leaving behind a now truly alone sleeping Uchiha child.


	11. Chapter 11

Itachi growled in frustration, two days they had been here and had found no more evidence of where his little brother was, he knew that in situations like this every moment was precious, so very precious.

"What are we going to do?" one of his team mates asked curiously after they finished checking every inch of land for a 2 mile radius around the tree.

"Keep searching" he simply replied, a groan could be heard from the others, sure Itachi had pushed them to the point of insanity in the past, but this was crazy.

**[ The Uchiha District **

Mikoto stood quietly in her kitchen, cleaning the few dishes that were in the sink, only another reminder of how lonely her home had become, her youngest son was missing, her husband arrested and in a holding cell, while her other son was out looking for his little brother.

She sighed as she finished drying the last plate and set it in the cupboard, she straightened a few of the cups that were up there when she saw something in one's reflection, she quickly spun around, her ninja instincts kicking in-

Nothing was there. She shrugged it off as her mind playing tricks on her as she decided some fresh air would do her good, she put on her coat and headed to the market in town, it was a chilly day in Kohona and she bet that Itachi would want something piping hot for dinner, that's, _if _he put searching aside and decided to come home for a change………….

**[ The Slave Camp **

Sasuke awoke on the cold floor of the warehouse, the other children were there now as well, how long had he been out? He leaned up to look around for Amaris, maybe she could tell him what time of day it was.

"Amaris?" he asked, wiping some of the sleep out of his eyes.

No response.

"Amaris?" he tried again, starting to get a little scared.

"Will you shut up already runt, she's dead" another nearby kid barked out, tired and worn out from the trek.

"What do you mean dead?! She can't be!" he yelled out, if he weren't so dehydrated tears would have been forming.

"Get over it already, she was sold and killed, just like the rest of us will be one day, sheesh, just accept the fact that we're all going to die already" the mean child said, looking down.

The little Uchiha pulled his knees to his chest, he was suddenly much more aware that even though he was in a camp full of other children, he was the most alone he had ever been in his short life.

**[ Kohona Market **

Mikoto made her way back home, her bag full of groceries. When she was only a few blocks from the gates into the place where her people called home, she heard a whining noise.

She turned around and saw a scruffy gray dog, it stared at her with a pleading look in its dark eyes. Normally she would have shooed it away but this one looked so…..pitiful. she couldn't help but feel like helping it, but what could she do? She got an idea and reached into her bag, fumbling into some paper and pulled out a small cube of meat for the stew she was going to make.

She tossed it at the shaggy animal, it caught it in midair and gulped it down, most strays would have walked up to any person, begging for more, but this one stood its ground, giving her yet another pleading look.

Mrs.Uchiha went on her way, not even giving this stray beast another thought.

Soon she was chopping up vegetables, back in her kitchen, a lovely view of her garden could be seen through the window infront of her, she looked back up form her work, gazing at the lilies, when she saw something in the reflection of the window…….someone was standing………right behind her…..

She froze, gripping the cutting knife in her hand tighter. In a flash she had turned herself around, coming face-to-face with-

"Ornlos?"

She stared in confusion and then fear as she felt her self being pushed roughly against the counter, her wrist being twisted until it was forced to drop the knife, the realization of what he was about to do hitting her like a ton of bricks…..


	12. Chapter 12

Mikoto yelped as she was roughly shoved into a wall and pinned like a scared animal.

"What are you doing?!" she choked out, a hand on her neck strangling her words and air supply. Ornlos took the 'actions speak louder than words' approach when he violated her chest with his groping hands, a sadist look in his eyes.

"GET AWAY FROM ME BASTARD!" she screamed out, struggling against his force, tears of fear beginning to form.

That's when a faded white flash from across the room came through and slammed into the police officer from the left side, knocking him off his victim.

Mrs.Uchiha wasted no time in picking her chopping knife back up and holding it in a defensive manner, recovering her shocked senses to figure out the scene before her.

A mixture of growling, barking, and a masculine yelling followed by some cursing followed, in what seemed like several minutes, but was really a few seconds, the man was running with a limp out the door, the animal hot on his tail.

She felt her knees give way as all became quiet once again. What had just happened? She slid down onto the floor, knife still clutched close to her chest, blood from the attack splattered all over the floor.

That's when she heard a tip-tapping coming right to her front door.

She looked up to see none other than that scruffy dog she had fed earlier, it stood there, red staining the fur around its mouth, normally this would scare some people who would try and use the knife against the animal, but there was something about its peaceful presence that told Mikoto that it meant her no harm whatsoever...

**[ ANBU Station **

Itachi sighed inwardly as he removed his mask and set it on top of his neatly folded, freshly washed uniform, all day they had searched and had nothing to show for it. He wrote up his report, signed it, and filed it accordingly.

On his walk home he pondered on how to break it to his mother that chances are, that since they hadn't found her baby by now, they probably never would, sure his remains would show up sooner or later, but that wasn't exactly comforting to any mother in this situation.

He hesitated at the door, repeating the devastating speech over and over again in his mind one last time, his fingers pried at the frame and pulled it open, and walked in, where he was greeted with bared teeth and a fierce growl………..

**[ Holding Cell #47B **

Fugaku sat there, frown on his passive face and his arms crossed, he was sick of these people who gave him looks and stares all day long, it was official that he now knew who were really his friends and who were just suck-ups…………

A brawl nearly broke out when a few prisoners decided to be pushy and fight for more room, but one glare from the chief of police ended it, he kept his gaze on the frightened men until another scornful look caught his eye.

Ornlos.

The man limped pass the bars of the cell, giving Fugaku a dirty look as he walked on, mumbling something about some damn mutt………..

**[ The Uchiha Clan Head Place of Residence **

Itachi sat at the kitchen table, holding his forehead in his hands, absorbing all his mother had said about what had happened that night and how this……...beast got here.

Speaking of which, it was eating some meat scraps out of a bowl his mother had set down for it.

"Why do you feed it? You're just going to get it attached to us" he stated blankly, piecing together all the evidence and actions in his head, he closed his eyes for a moment when it all came to him.

"I know, I know, but it did save me form who-knows-what that nasty Ornlos had in mind, ugh, I still feel like taking a shower just thinking about it" she said as she shuddered, the canine creature now done with its meal and sat content by her side, not making a sound.

"If you do take that….thing with you, it smells like the ANBU's laundry room after a physical exam" he said in all seriousness, standing to his feet.

"Where are you going?" his mother inquired.

"To Lord Hokage, I know it might be a bit late but I must speak with him" Itachi explained as he walked out the door, disappearing into the night.

"About what?" she called after him, but got no response. She was used to him being like that, so she figured she had might as well do something productive with her time and scrub her rescuer down in a good soak……….

**[ Mountian camp **

Sasuke had been unable to move since he had heard the news about his friend, even when Akuma went his rounds and stood in front of the child, he didn't notice, thought he did suddenly feel much colder.

At this point and time, this child was as miserable as he would ever be in his life, he was cold, hungry, thirsty, weak, and nauseated. There were even thoughts in his mind that welcomed the idea of a quick death, he tried as hard as he could but couldn't push them away.

Soon he had to lay his head down to relieve the nausea, and soon closed his tiny little eyes, drifting into a restless sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Considering the fact that this dog was grimy form head to tail and was in dire need of grooming, Mikoto took it to a nearby vet, maybe they knew who owned it and could tell her so she could thank the owners.

She sat in the lounge reading magazines for over half-an-hour before they were finished, but Dr.Yates asked her to step into the examination room for a moment.

"So, what do we know about the scruffy gray dog?" she asked, noticing that it wasn't anywhere in the room.

"Well, for starters, it's as healthy as a horse, and second, well, it's neither scruffy….nor gray……Mrs.Uchiha, it's not even a 'dog'"

"What do you mean?" she asked in pure confusion, she knew a dog when she saw one, and that animal was definitely of the canine family.

"Maybe you should see for yourself" he advised before asking his assistant to bring it in, and when it came through the door, Mikotos' jaw nearly dropped…………

**[Lord Hokage's Office **

"Let me get this straight, you think Ornlos has something to do with your little brothers' disappearance?" The third asked He and Itachi alone in his private quarters.

"Yes, and I firmly believe that if you allow us to search his home we can find evidence against him" the prodigy kept a straight, passive face, but on the inside he was begging for his request to be granted.

"I just don't know –" he started, but taking another look into the youth's eyes he could see that he was passionate about this.

"Ok, you have my permission, just please, leave everything the way you found it" he warned as he dismissed the Uchiha.

**[The Vet **

Mikoto stared in awe at the beast before her, it had snow white fur, with blood red streaks all over, completely different than the dirty thing she had brought before.

"Mrs. Uchiha, that thing is a wolf" the Vet finished off as it jumped up onto the examination table with ease.

"Come again?" She requested, eyes still wide at the marvelous beauty of the do- oops, wolf.

"It is a purebred wolf; this type doesn't even live anywhere near this area"

"Wait, then how did it get here? Maybe its owner is visiting Kohona?" the distraught Uchiha suggested, searching for some logical answer.

"Who knows, but don't worry, I saved the best for last" he added with a hint of sarcasm.

"You're kidding?"

"Nope, take a look at the underside of its ear" he said as he gestured towards the beast.

At first she hesitated, kind of nervous about touching a wolf, a wild and aggressive creature

"Don't worry, she's tame" he encouraged.

"Oh so it's female?" she asked, trying to sound calm as she lifted the ear back with her fingers.

"F1P19G1991" she read aloud, this number was clearly tattooed onto the animal for identification purposes, but what did it mean?

"I already searched all the records of every other veterinarian in town, no one has any dogs or wolves matching this ones description, thus it is to be treated as if it were a stray"

Mikoto read the numbers quietly to herself for a moment before noticing a little black area under some white fur closer to the base of its ear, when she pointed it out to Mr. Yates he claimed to have not noticed it, and pulled out a hair shaver and went to work.

Seconds later, they found what had been hidden from their view; it was the wolf's name.

Ammy Ookami


	14. Chapter 14

**(A/N: Sorry bout the wait guys, messed up schedule, anyway, here it goes, enjoy)**

**[The Prisoner Snow Valley Camp**

It had seemed like hours since he had awoken in that miserable prison, right now the young Uchiha welcomed death, sure he didn't exactly understand it, but any escape would be greeted with tiny open arms.

Clutching his stomach in hunger pains, the raven-haired boy weakly lifted his head to see none other than the overseer of the hell hole walk in and down the aisle, straight towards him.

Sasuke struggled to keep his eyes cracked open as two leather boots stopped in front of his collapsed form, next thing he knew he was being dragged up by the chains that kept him prisoner, the others in the warehouse not even giving him a glance as he was greeted to the outdoor world by the freezing cold.

**[Uchiha District**

Mrs.Uchiha walked through the tiny town back to her home, a white _wolf _in a thick black leather harness with carrying pouches on the side led on a leash beside her, kind of like a big furry bodyguard.

She and the vet had agreed that she could keep it unless an owner came up, normally she would have said no, all things considered, but ever since her little experience with Ornlos that morning, she didn't want to take any chances.

"Ammy, Ammy Ookami, isn't it a little strange for a pet to have a first and last name?" she asked the powerful beast on the other end of the length of leather in her hand.

_whine_ It responded back, its bushy tail wagging behind it.

Finally they arrived back at her home, she had no idea how she was going to explain this to her husband, but with any luck he'd be too blinded by rage directed at Ornlos to notice Ammy.

She left her standing in the middle of the kitchen as she busied herself making something for her and her son to eat, after she finished preparing some rice she turned around to check on the Ookami.

"Where she go?" she asked herself as she untied her apron and set her stirring spoon on the counter, walking away to search for her new house-mate.

She turned the corner just in time to see the white tip of her tail go around the corner of the house, Mikoto followed quietly, figuring that Ammy was just exploring.

The snow-white animal walked half-way down and began to paw at the edge of a sliding door, opening it enough for her to squeeze in; Mrs.Uchiha peered into the room, seeing what it wanted in her son's room.

There the Ookami walked straight to the floor-bound bed and laid down at the foot of it, resting its head on the neat covers, giving a pitiful whining noise, it laid there in that spot for hours afterwards, not moving an inch.

**[Ornlos' Place of Residence**

"Remind me, what are we doing here again?" one of Itachi's team mates asked, always the inquisitive one.

"Looking for anything that might link Ornlos Uchiha to Sasuke's kidnapping"

"Breaking and entering is more like it" the other one mumbled, but quieted when the Uchiha prodigy gave him a look.

"Just get in there and look around" He ordered as he broke the lock on the door and walked into the darkness.

**[Prisoner Camp**

Sasuke's body was pretty much numb by the time Akuma was done dragging him through a foot of snow, afterwards his tiny frame was greeted by being tossed harshly onto a cold cement floor, he was too weak to see where he was, too _tired._

The young Uchiha's body shook as the snow that got caught up in his shirt began to melt into very cold water, creating a puddle that surrounded his entire body while Akuma busied himself shackling one of the child's arms to a wall before leaving him alone to suffer until he got back.

**[Ornlos' home**

"When I signed up for the ANBU, I didn't think it meant I would be dumpster-diving for a mission" one of the men complained as he peered over the edge of the garbage bin, grimacing at the rotten food and junk in it.

"Itachi's orders, do or die" the other one

"Ya ya ya" the first one muttered as he hesitantly reached his hand into the bin.


	15. Chapter 15

**[The residence of Uchiha Ornlos**

"Found anything out yet?" The leader of the team asked as he walked by the green and gray trash bins, one of his teammates was bent over halfway into the container; the other had tipped the entire thing over onto the alleyway.

"Other that Ornlos is a wasteful slob? I mean, come on, there's half-eaten meals, sour milk, ripped up papers-"

"What kind of papers?" He inquired; anything could be taken as a lead.

"Umm, old bills, receipts, junk mail, it was all in a separate baggy, looks like he put them through a shredder"

"Hand it here" he wanted to know every little detail of what that man had been up to for the past few weeks. When he opened the black plastic bag to take a look in, he knew he had his work cut out for him.

Hundred upon hundreds of tiny pieces of paper, all shredded into little pieces and mixed together.

"Keep searching, I'm going to go look into these"

**[Slave Camp**

Sasuke's tired black eyes followed the much bigger figure pacing in front of him, Akuma had returned and had chained him in a standing position against the wall, grabbed a nearby small cutting knife, and had been debating to himself as to how to do this correctly.

The overseer's grimace turned into an evil grin as he stopped where he stood and faced his young captive, the sickle blade turning between his thick fingers.

That's when he stepped up close to the young Uchiha, real close, to the point of he could smell his rancid breath close; and rested the sharp tip of the blade on the outer edge of skin surrounding his left eye, just hard enough to produce a droplet of blood…………….

**[The Uchiha District**

Mikoto carefully slid the door to her eldest son's room open with one hand as she carried a tray with steaming hot soup and a bowl of rice on it with the other.

She didn't bother announcing herself, she knew that Itachi knew she was there, besides, he never acknowledged her very existence.

"Here, I brought you some lunch" she set the tray down on his desk as she peeked over his shoulder, seeing what he was doing.

It looked like he was doing several jigsaw puzzles all at once, some were mostly done, and others were no more than a few pieces of paper sitting next to each other, unsure whether they belong there or not.

"Anything I can help with?" she asked.

He didn't answer as he carefully set a small scrap of yellow paper next to several others.

A whine came from the door as Amaris stood there, her head down with a sad look in her dark eyes.

Mrs.Uchiha sighed before turning and leaving, the white furry wolf following her at her heels.

**[Slave Camp**

"Ok kid, here's a deal, you stop wiggling around and I'll make your death quick and relatively painless" Akuma ordered in frustration, his hand pressed up against the child's forehead trying to keep him still, pressing the cutting tool near that same spot as before.

Sasuke let out a pathetic moan, feeling the object intrude into his pale skin, he wasn't about to just let him do this to him, not without a fight.

When he could muster up enough strength he jerked his head away, feeling the hooked end of the blade catching his skin and tearing through it like paper down his cheek, followed by a few colorful words from Akuma.

**[Kohona**

The still house suddenly came to life as a teenage boy burst out of his room, a white taped-up paper in his fist as he ran as fast as he could, he needed to report to Lord Hokage, and every second was precious.


	16. Chapter 16

**[Lord Hokage's Quarters**

"Let me get this straight, you broke into his home and then searched his trash and found evidence?"

"That's correct"

"This I gotta see" The third said as he gestured for Itachi to hand him the taped up paper

**[The Slave Camps**

Sasuke jerked his head away again, causing another slash to mar his face as the knife tore through his skin like paper.

"Listen maggot, I am in NO mood for this, you're going to die anyway, why prolong your suffering?" Akuma tried to convince him as he dug the hooked blade out of the child's flesh and placed it at its intended destination.

"N-no…..I don't want to die…." Sasuke muttered as a feeling of hopelessness and fear sunk into his very core, a tear fell from his eye, stinging the open wounds as it fell.

"Well tough, because when I'm done with this, you're useless, useless to me, useless to any of my clients, heck, your own family wont want you back without your precious eyes"

This only caused Sasuke to whimper and tear up more, but he did not give up his struggle against the overseer's attempts to remove his sight.

**[A Small Ramen Shop In Town**

Four men in uniform and masks, katana at each of their sides, stepped into the open shop and sat down on the stools, 2 on one side of a man who was there before, the other two on his left.

These elite ninja weren't here to eat, or to drink, they were here on a mission. A mission ordered by Lord Hokage himself.

The man clad in green that sat between these great fighters of Kohona glanced from side to side, the hairs on his neck rising as he sensed the danger in store for him, he casually stood and attempted to walk out-

BAM

He was on the ground in under a blink of an eye, and before he knew it he was being bound and dragged off, he didn't resist this, he knew what they wanted, he knew what they knew.

Ornlos was guided up the steps and through the doors of the Kohona Military Police Station, down the hall, and past a few stalls, just in time to see one of the barred rooms doors' open and see the man he loathed being released.

Fugaku Uchiha.


	17. Chapter 17

Sasuke felt blood pour down his cheek as this maniac continued the assault, he knew that if he gave in for even a moment it would all be over.

By the look in his eyes Akuma was ready to just kill the kid and get it over with, but his fetish for blood and seeing others in pain overwhelmed his irritation.

The overseer was about to curse the child out again when the door to the small dissection room cracked open with a creaking sound……….

**[Kohona**

Mikoto was sitting near her garden folding freshly cleaned laundry, basket in front of her and Amaris the white wolf beside her on the grass, resting her head on her huge paws.

A small fly came buzzing around the Ookami's head, getting no more than an ear flick in annoyance, but the pest persisted and in one snap Ammy grabbed it in her mouth, immediately spitting it back out, her tongue flicking in and out trying to get the taste of the bug out, her antics making Mrs.Uchiha laugh some, but in a split second the beast was on her feet, her ears pressed forward, listening.

She had heard something coming.

Mrs.Mikoto noticed this and let the cloth in her hands drop into its container, her ninja senses kicking in, she heard footsteps walking around the edge of the house, coming in her direction. She grabbed a kunai she had hidden in the folds of her clothing and gripped it tightly, ever since the incident with Ornlos she wasn't going to take any chances.

A light growling noise from Amaris which turned into no more than a whine told her that something was up, she quickly turned around stood at the same time, meeting her intruder face to face-

**[Slave Camp**

Sasuke's wrists hurt from him hanging from them for so long, thankfully one of the overseer's clients showed up ahead of schedule and distracted him from the Uchiha who was now breathing in deeply, trying to regain energy to struggle against the man once again when he returned.

But of course, it's so hard to renew your energy supply when it's so cold _indoors_ that you can clearly see your breath…….

The child had given up on any hope of a rescue, if they hadn't come by now, they weren't going to come at all.

He could do nothing to hold back his tears of lost hope as he could feel the tips of his fingers going numb and the sticky blood drying on his pale skin on the side of his face………….

**[Kohona**

Ammy looked on with a wag of her tail as Mikoto embraced the so-called 'intruder', her owner seemed happy so she was relaxed.

Fugaku held his dear wife close to him, he hadn't shown it but he had missed her, missed all his family so much over the past few days. Mikoto felt tears of happiness coming from her eyes as she cried into his chest, never wanting to let go.

But she found herself being pushed away from him as he held her arms at a length from himself, his other hand coming up to her cheek.

"I have to head back to the Station, I'm being put back on immediate duty"

"What?! Why?" she whined, ready to go into hysterics need be.

"Because Lord Hokage thinks I would be the best choice for a certain interrogation" he answered with a smirk, looking forward to it.

"But……You just got back…." She started, wrapping him into another tight hug, she never wanted to feel so alone, so helpless ever again.

"I'll find out where our Sasuke is, and I'll bring him home" he promised and sealed his oath with a kiss before holding her one last time before dashing off to the police department.

**[A Short While Later at the Station**

Ornlos felt a pain in his head and neck as he was slammed into the wall and pinned up against it with brute force

"Believe me when I say that I can quite literally do this all day, so tell me where my son is or else Ornlos!"

"I don't have to say anything to you Fugaku, you have no proof or motive to keep me here" Ornlos sadi with a sneer as he folded his arms.

"That's not what the papers we found in your garbage say"

"You went through my garbage?!"

"That's correct, we found the papers, the receipts, the proof of sale of one child to a human trafficking organization! Now tell me, **WHERE IS MY SON!?**" Fugaku demanded to know as slammed the man into the wall repeatedly, leaving him gasping for breath.

"Screw you" Ornlos spat, he had accomplished enough of his plan that he was satisfied with himself, and he was determined to take the secret of young Sasuke's location to the grave if he had to.

The head of the Uchiha clan let him drop to the ground, leaving the room before he committed a homicide, thus destroying any chance of finding his kid.

**[ About An Hour Later**

Ornlos wouldn't tell anyone anything, and it was getting tiring having to deal with him, so Mr.Uchiha ordered for him to be placed in a certain holding cell filled with men that would be more than thrilled to see him.

He slowly made his way home, trying to find ways to tell his wife, he knew that all this was going to crush her fragile heart………

-**woof**-

He looked up to see a white wolf standing between him and the gates to his district, staring straight at him with pleading eyes, slowly wagging a cautious tail.

"What do you want mutt?" he asked harshly

-**woof**-

He paid the creature no mind as he continued on past it, that's when he felt something grab the edge of his sleeve.

"Get off!" he tried to shake her off, but Amaris wouldn't let go, she was trying to tell him something, but he just wasn't getting it.

She finally released him and ran ahead, jumping up on his porch and walking into the missing son's room.

"What the- " he muttered, why was there a dog going into his house?

She stepped out of the room with a black shirt in her jaws, jumping to the ground and running out the gates with it until she was about 3 yards away, 'woofing' with the item still in her mouth.

"Fugaku, what's going on? Why does Ammy have Sasuke's shirt?" he turned around to see Mikoto standing behind him, looking curiously at the large animal.

"You know whose dog this is?"

A large sweatdrop fell from her forehead before she went to tell him, but a white flash running around them in a circle then back out the gates distracted her.

"I think she wants you to follow her"

"What?"

"Please, just trust me on this one"

"There's no way I'm about to go around town chasing some stray mongrel"

"will you please just do this for me?" Fugaku was about to refuse but the desperate look in Mikoto's eyes kept him from it, Allwell, what could it hurt?

In a flash he ran after the white beast, it ran from him with excellent speed and agility, he knew he could have caught it if he wanted to but his wife had asked him to _follow _it.

It wasn't long before he was joined by three other ninja

Itachi and his team.

He explained the situation to them, a few didn't really understand it but went along with it anyway as they followed the wolf right out of the huge double gates of Kohona………


	18. Chapter 18

They had run for several miles when the wolf stopped by a stream, dropped the shirt, and began to drink hungrily, it knew it had along and tiresome journey ahead of it.

"I cannot _believe_ your mother is making me do this" Fugaku complained as they all hid in the bushes, quietly watching and waiting.

"Well I'm on her side with this one" Itachi whispered over, his eyes never leaving from their target.

"Why?!"

"Because of that" he said as he pointed past Amaris and on to none other than the tree he had found the rope fibers at.

The Ookami didn't stop for long before picking up the item once more and dashing off, it could have moved faster had it wanted to but she wanted to make sure she could be followed. No one was able to keep track of the time, but after awhile the scenery changed from lush green to sand, and a clearing soon showed.

In the middle of the clearing was a large warehouse, the doors barred with iron poles and locks. Normally they would have passed it up but the white beast ran right up to the doors and pawed at the furiously, as they moved in closer to examine the building they started to hear small noises, it was faint and light, but they all heard it.

Crying.

It took all four of them to move the barriers and pull the doors open, all in shock by what they saw.

Children, more than twenty of them, all in chains and shackles, they all stared at the four ninja, not sure of how to react, as the men stood there in unbelief Amaris heard a noise in the nearby shrubbery, someone was running away. She would have chased after them, but these little ones here needed all the help they could get.

**[Snow Mountains Slave Camp**

Now it was becoming hard to breathe, his lungs and chest hurt so much, he was now wheezing for precious air.

It wouldn't be long now, sweet relief, death itself, would come soon if help didn't arrive soon, which by the looks of it, wasn't going to happen.

"Sir, we've been found out." A lower ranking minion stated to his boss, shaking like a leaf in his very presence

"Explain Yourself" he ordered, his glare digging deep into the smaller mans soul.

"Ninja, several of them, have been seen poking around a slave camp sir, they know"

The boss turned around and closed his eyes, this was a problem, a real problem.

"Destroy all the camps in that area and dispose of the slaves, we'll take the loss, **NOW MOVE" **he yelled at his underling, the man went scurrying out the door to send the word out, the messengers moving at top speed.

**[ Slave Camp #1**

After a short inspection they found that 37 children, 32 alive and 5 that died inside the warehouse, had been housed there, their ankles raw and wounds infected. Fugaku now stood at the camp's burn pile, holding a tiny charred skull in one hand, and with a small bit of pressure it broke into many pieces.

"Who would do this?" One of Itachi's teammates voiced his thoughts as he broke the locks that held the little ones in place.

"Who knows" the other muttered.

"What are we to do with them? We can't leave them here alone…." The first man asked, clearly able to see the hurt and pain inside the many eyes staring back at him.

"Exactly, which is why you are taking them back to Kohona" Fugaku ordered, his eyes still focused on the burnt bones and remains.

"What?"

"You heard me, you will lead them and walk them back to the village, Lord Hokage will decide what's to be done with them"

"What will you be doing?"

"Following the wolf again" he answered with a gesture to Amaris who had picked up Sasuke's shirt up in its mouth once more and was pacing back and forth near a clear trail in the woods.

Without a word more he, Itachi, and the remaining teammate set off after the white Ookami once more, leaving the man alone with the kids.

**[A short While Later**

They knew they were getting close to something when a strong stench came to their noses, something was burning, the gray smoke rising in the distance alerted them of the crisis.

"What's going on?" the last teammate asked as they jumped from limb to limb.

"Only one way to find out" The Uchiha Clan prodigy answered, the three men and wolf all running in the direction of the flames.


	19. Chapter 19

Akuma counted the money in his hand as a small child's hand were tied to the back of a wagon and he was forced to walk behind it as it pulled away and down the road. He removed his sickle-bladed knife from its pouch on his belt and fingered it in his hand, time to get back to the kid.

He placed his hand against the door that was imprisoning the small Uchiha child, ready to get this over with one way or another, when a rider on a gray horse came trotting up, the beast had foam on its nose, neck, and hindquarters from the heavy run.

"What do you want?" Akuma asked the messenger gruffly, he had been looking forward to this dissection all morning and he didn't exactly appreciate being disturbed once more.

"Orders from the Boss, get rid of the kids and do whatever it takes to destroy any signs of what's been happening here"

"Why?"

"Ninja have been spotted at camp 62B"

"Damn it" he muttered, he had a hunch he knew just which villages ninja they were……

'No Way I'm getting caught for that runt' he thought to himself, he had a plan but first he needed to get rid of those other maggots first.

**[At the 2****nd**** Camp**

They had to cover their mouths with parts of their shirts when they reached the source of the flames, a warehouse alike the one before, burning at a rapid rate.

Ammy let out a small whine, she tried to run ahead into the building but she was grabbed from behind on her harness by Fugaku himself.

"No way you going in there alone" He ordered, almost as if he thought the beast understood.

-**whine**-

He scanned the area and saw something that would help, a well, probably with water in it, and seeing that the Uchiha clan didn't exactly specialize in water-type jutsus, they needed all the help they could get.

But when he reached it, he had to control himself from losing his lunch on the spot, the smell, ugh, it was horrible, and after holding his breath and looking down into it, he saw the horrible reason why.

Little skeletons, too many to count, all piled ontop of each other, bugs, flies, rats, all chewing at the decomposing flesh still on a few of the corpses, and that was just what was _above_ the water levels.

Itachi came to see what had his own father standing in shock, he too, sadly gazed at what was there.

**"CAPTIAN!" ** the teammate yelled, snapping the two Uchiha's out of their trance.

"What?!"

"I CAN HEAR THEM, I CAN HEAR NOISES INSIDE!"

That was it, Amaris broke free and rammed herself into a weak part of the wooden wall, a small spot collapsed and allowed her access as she ran in, thick gray smoke puffing out where she had just disappeared.

A split second alter a larger hole was made in the wall there as Fugaku, Itachi, and his partner all ran into the unsturdy establishment.

**[Mountian Slave Camp**

"Please, don't hurt us" a small girl whimpered as she clinged to her little brother, the overseers dragging them all by their chains.

"Don't worry, you won't feel a thing, that's if you die on impact atleast" an older man snickered as he caused the little girl to cry more.

They were all being led to and forced off of a ledge, the height alone was high enough to give nosebleeds. The children were all brought up to the very peak where one at the beginning of the chain was shoved off, gravity took its course after that.

"Where's Akuma? He's missing out on this" one man asked another, he watched the kid's terrified expressions and acts in delight.

"Out to the falls, something about getting rid of a body"


	20. Chapter 20

Fugaku soon found himself using a taijutsu to break a boll in the chains holding the children captive, they were all crying and screaming, terrified of what was happening, as soon as the metal was free from the cement on the floor they ran for the hole in the wall, the first out led by his wrist being held in the jaws of the white wolf.

With the guidance of the two ANBU officers more of the kids, blinded by light and choked by the smoke, stood on weak and wobbly legs, being ushered into line, things were going smoothly- in a panicky, horrifying sort of way- when one of the kids were jerked back, the link in the chain had gotten caught on the ring.

He tried to grab it and pull, but the hot metal seared his hands at the touch, he screamed and fell into the fetal position on the ground, the pain overwhelming him.

"IT'S NOT GOING TO COME LOOSE!" Itachi's partner yelled franticly.

Itachi, on the other hand, was scanning over the room, looking each child in the face, looking for his little brother, but in a glance he saw that he was not there, but he did see something that caught his attention. The roof.

It was about to collapse.

"GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" he ordered, using a taijutsu of his own to snap the link on the middle of the chain himself, the children connected to it ran forward on their own, they did whatever they could to go towards the light, their friends still on the other end of the warehouse scrambling and tripping over each other to get there.

Itachi, Fugaku, and the remaining teammate ran towards the opening, the last of the little ones on the length of chain passing through, Itachi and his partner went through the hole in the wall, Fugaku glanced back to see more of children, running towards him, suddenly everything went in slow motion as the children came closer and the flaming beams from the roof came down with a crash, right where those innocent kids were just standing, their choked and strangled screams of fright and pain filling the smoky air.

The head of the Uchiha clan felt himself being grabbed from behind and pulled backwards as his mind went in shock, he had just witnessed the horrible and unneeded death of several young _children. _

No sooner had he been dragged more than 6-7 yards away the entire building came down in one huge, horrible light show, the surviving kids screaming in fear, some stumbling over their feet and chains while others just fell to the ground, completely unconscious.

Fugaku laid back on the ground where he had been set down, breathing in the clear air greedily, he had to remind himself that this could not effect him in any way, he couldn't let it blur his vision of what this mission was all about, and that was rescuing his son, but after seeing the fates of so many young ones at these two places, if he was at any one like it, there wasn't much hope.

He then felt something wet on his face, only took him a moment to realize what it was.

"UH, GET OFF OF ME MUTT!" he yelled hoarsely as he pushed Amaris away, she was urging him to get up, to keep moving, they couldn't stop here, they had to keep going, for Sasuke's sake they had to.

**[Snow Mountain Slave Camp**

Sasuke felt his body going numb, he felt in slow torment as he lost feeling in his outstretched arms and legs. The blood from his cuts had stopped flowing out because of the bitter cold. Sasuke's eyes hurt him, but he still had his hearing intact.

And right then, he heard someone coming closer to the door, footsteps through the snow crunching louder and louder, until he was sure someone was about to come through that door.

Nothing happened.

Akuma was debating on how many ways he could do this, he could take the time to gouge the eyes out, stick them in a jar and keep them for later, but did he really wanna risk it?

"Akuma man, you're missing out on the action!" another overseer chimed up, his thumb pointing over his shoulder towards the cliffs.

"I don't know, I kinda have something important to attend to-"

"But we NEED you, none of us are strong enough to make sure that the ones that survived the fall are _dead_ dead"

"Oh alright, I'm coming" he gave in, heck, if he was about to be on the run he was going to have some fun first.

**[A Few miles away from Camp #2**

Father and son had left the children to recover with Itachi's partner who would later walk them back to Kohona

Amaris had been running all day, and her sides hurt from the strain, along with her lungs, taking in that smoke probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but she couldn't help it, she would have rather died than have the guilt of all those children's lost lives on her shoulders.

She knew this path they we're taking, she knew it all to well, but time was going by so much faster since this time she wasn't in chains………….and had two extra feet.

When the smell of rotting flesh hit her sensitive nose, a bad memory entered her mind; she stopped on the trail and looked over the edge of the hill, where several crows and vultures had gathered in one spot.

The Ookami waited until the two Uchiha's we're only yards away before taking off again, entering the dense rocky forest that tortured her feet so badly before.

She was amazed at how fast they were covering ground, this took tiring days and many grueling hours to get through this before, probably a symptom of those cruel overseer's laziness and overall evilness.

Ammy took her eyes off the ground before her and up at the sky, a feeling of urgency and adrenaline filled her chest when she saw the nearing white topped mountains…………….

**[Back to Sasuke**

Akuma grunted as he and 2 other men pushed against a large boulder, it rolled inch by devastating inch closer to the end of the cliff.

5 feet…….

Little brown eyes peer open, looking from side to side, looking at his scary surroundings.

3 feet 7 inches……

He pushes something heavy off of him, rubbing the dark sticky stuff off his face

Just under 1 foot……

He stands, and begins calling out for his big sister……

6 inches…….

He looks down and begins to cry, seeing he sisters body cut up and bleeding, her arm and neck bent weird.

3 inches…..

He falls to his knees, shaking his older sister to please, wake up, please!

Akuma and the others back up as the heavy object is sent flying over the edge.

Another innocent soul is taken straight to heaven, where pain and suffering don't exist……….

"Hehe, let's get another one" Akuma's friend from before said with a smile, looking behind himself for another big one.

"Nah, I got to go do something first"


	21. Chapter 21

Akuma walked out of sight of the camp, a limp, unconscious form in his tight grip. He slowly tromped through the snow, soon finding a river and following it south.

**[Back At The Camp**

"Hehe, think we got them all with that last one?" One of the overseer's asked another as they peered over the edge, admiring their handiwork.

"I don't know, think we should try another?"

"Sure-" he was cut off as he stumbled over the edge of the peek, a kunai sticking out of his back.

"What the?!-" The other was kicked in the stomach and following his friend down the cliff.

Itachi, looking from left to right to try and find more of the men to kill, saw the warehouse and ran toward it, Fugaku following right behind him, when they reached it they both had to use effort to slide the doors open.

-**Creak**-

They opened with a struggle, only to be greeted with an empty room.

"We're too late….." So this was it, was this the end of their mission?

**-****grrrrrr****-**

The hairs on Amaris' back had risen, her tail stiff as a board and teeth bared as she ran down a path where several grown men had just left their scent on.

Her walk broke into a dash when she saw one of them.

"What was….." Fugaku started as he and his eldest son ran out of the building and into the open, following after the sound of a dog growling and a man screaming.

Meanwhile, Akuma was walking back, his pants wet from the knees down, when he heard a familiar scream of one of his buddies, and it could only mean one thing.

He turn and ran into the lightly wooded area nearby, sure it wasn't exactly good cover but maybe he would find a cave or something to hide in.

**-aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwooooooooooooo-**

The white wolf let out a cry as she broke her grip on the one mans arm and ran off, but the Uchiha's didn't notice as they put these scum out of commission for awhile.

**-BAM-**

One hit to the chest and the breath was knocked out of the last overseer standing, the crunching sound of his ribs could be audibly heard as he fell to the ground, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"I think that's the last of them…."

"Where's the mutt?" Fugaku asked a she looked from side to side, which was where the beast usually liked to hang around.

Itachi shrugged as he grabbed two of the fallen men that were lucky to still be alive and drag them back to the warehouse, he wanted them to suffer and rot in prison for as long as he possibly could make them.

Seeing a trail of rather large pawprints, Fugaku tracked them and found himself heading into the woods.

The Clan Prodigy tightly bolted the door of the building where the criminals were now being kept prisoner, kinda ironic actually, before making his way to follow after the same path his father was, when he noticed a set of boot tracks leading down a slope, then similar ones leading back.

He decided that there was a reason why someone would recently go then come back, and wanted to find out for himself.

**[Where Fugaku, the wolf, and Akuma are…….**

Fugaku finally started seeing signs of Amaris being close by, but something was off, there were more prints everywhere, and blood staining the snow, and when he looked over a ledge that had about a four foot drop he was taken back at the site before him……..

**[Let's see what Itachi is up too……**

The powerful teenager found that the trail of tracks led down and followed right next to a stream, which became deeper and more violent the farther he went down, it seemed that whoever made these tracks probably wanted some water or something, but then, why were the prints coming deeper than the ones going?

At this moment everything was a lead, on closer inspection of the spot he found something that made him stick around, some blood had smeared on a small rock, and it was fresh, cold in these temperatures but fresh nonetheless.

Itachi followed the stream in a light run, scanning its waters and banks for something, anything.

But he stopped short when the stream suddenly became a river……a river with a waterfall that had withstood the cold…….he walked to the edge where it dropped off and looked down and around, that when he saw something small and wet laying on the rocky ground just on the edge of the slowly freezing water.

**[Back to Fugaku**

Wolves, several of them, all biting and tearing into a freshly killed carcass, the body was wearing a uniform much like those other slavers they had taken down, so the head of the clan did nothing to help as the beasts tore into the warm human flesh.

A white one broke away form the group, the fur around its mouth stained red. It came up and stood next to its assumed master, looking up to him as if to say 'what now?'

The man turned and headed back to where he had left his eldest son, since Ammy hadn't tried to lead them somewhere else he had to assume that they would both need to go find and search this camps dead victims.

**[Itachi…..and Sasuke**

Itachi darted next to the cold and damp black object, he place a hand on its side and rolled it over, his breath catching in his chest when he saw who it was.

"Sasuke…." He brought his hands under his little brothers back and knees, lifting him up into his lap and leaning against his chest, the child was as cold as ice and covered in blood, his clothing and hair soaked through and through, so cold that small crystals were beginning to form.

Itachi tried to feel Sasuke's pulse, but his hand was too shaky from being wet to get a good reading. He gave up on that and stood to his feet, he had to find a village of some sort and fast, he didn't know if his little brother was dead or alive, but he sure as hell was going to try and find out.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: thx for the reviews guys, the more I get the faster i will update, and K94ever, where's my cookie? **

Itachi cradled the little body close to his chest as he leaped from hilltop to hilltop, searching everywhere for signs of any form of civilization anywhere, but he couldn't, and time was a critical factor in his little brothers life right then.

Amaris lifted her head as high as she could stretch, taking in big whiffs of air, Itachi had sight and sound in his search, but the white wolf had extraordinary sense of smell, and right then, among the scents of snow, blood, rotting flesh and mountain trees, she smelt something else: fish, cooked fish to be exact, and it was coming from her left, down the steep mountainside.

She nipped at the cloth around Fugaku's wrist, tugging him in that direction, trying to tell him the way to get help, it took her having to nearly bring the full grown man to the ground to get the message through.

"ITACHI" he yelled, straining his deep voice across the snowy field to the tiny black dot that was his son.

"GET BACK HERE, THE MUTT WANTS US TO FOLLOW"

The clan prodigy certainly didn't like the idea of stooping so low as to follow the whims of a beast, but she had been right so far…….

He bolted in the white creatures' direction, who darted down the hill and through the forest, following her nose, the scent of frying fish becoming stronger and stronger, soon a small trail of smoke could be seen, and tiny buildings in the distance became visible.

The Uchiha's heart was about to beat out of his chest in adrenaline and anxiety, what if they were too late? What if the villagers weren't friendly? What if he was holding at this moment his otouto's corpse?

That last thought in his mind made him push even harder, he could now feel a burning in his lungs and knees, even with his elite training his body wasn't used to this kind of strain.

Finally they came to the outskirts of the town, only thing keeping them from entering was a gate and two guards clad in heavy leather to protect from the cold.

"State your business" one guard barked out upon seeing the two figures approach.

"We are Kohona military men, please we need your assistance, my brother, I don't know if he's alive or-"

"Kohona ninja are you?" the other asked, seeming quite surprised.

"Yes, that's correct"

"What are you doing so far away from your hometown? Kohona is many many miles away, over the mountains even"

"Please allow me to explain later, my Brother needs medical attention immediately" Itachi hated to sound panicked but his mind was on a one-way track, and that was to get help for his Sasuke.

"I See, Kurda, open the gates and get the doc, you two follow me" The taller one ordered as the iron gates creaked open, making their arrival known to most in this small town.

He stripped himself of his own windbreaker and offered it to Itachi to cover the kid with, he had three little ones of his own, and personally hated seeing any child in harms way.

They were led to a larger building that was thankfully heated on the inside, as soon as they walked in an older man came up to them and without a word began checking Sasuke's vital signs.

He pressed his fingers on his wrist with one hand and on the childs throat with his other, everything became dead quiet as he felt for a pulse.

"He's still with us, but hardly, take him out back to the steam rooms and I'll meet you out there in a few minutes with some supplies, Kurda, please escort them there"

Itachi was finally able to breathe and think clearly once more, Sasuke was alive, there was a chance!

He carried him still huddled to his chest as the man who was now stripping himself of his heavy uniform opened a doorway that was the changing rooms, which led into what seemed to be some housed hot springs, a definite change from the biting cold they had just left.

By this time the doctor had returned, a tray with several different apperatus on it on his hands.

"Strip down and get into the water, he'll be needing a good soak to raise his core temperature back up" the older man advised as he inspected the little Uchiha's hands and fingertips.

"He also has very slight frostbite, not a good thing but nothing that can be done about it, I wont be able to do much more until he's stable, I'll give you some privacy, Kurda will be posted at the door at all times, holler if you need anything or if his condition changes"

Fugaku thanked him and went with the other guard to explain the situation to them as Itachi proceeded to hold Sasuke up and get into the hot steaming water, it felt good, and usually he would take time to sit back and relax when he would be in a steam room, but now was different, now his brothers life hanged in the balance.

He soon became bored and gently rubbed the raven-haired boys arms and hand, encouraging blood circulation, and he also inspected the wound on his head, which was now dribbling blood because of the change in temperature.

It seemed like an eternity before that doctor returned and took another look at Sasuke, shaking his head when he was finished.

"I'll send a nurse in to bandage those nasty gashes on his head and disinfect them, but considering his malnutrition and the fact that he was soaked in freezing cold water for an uncertain amount of time, I'm sorry but I don't give him much hope"

Itachi's chest sunk at those words, and the look of fear and pain in his eyes was clearly seen by the old man.

"I'll tell you what though, he's pushed to survive this long hasn't he? If he makes it through the night, and that's a pretty big IF, who knows, maybe he has what it takes to pull through."


	23. Chapter 23

Mikoto hugged herself with the blanket tighter as she stared at the bright moon in the midnight sky, she had never felt so alone, so scared in her life, oh what she would give to have everything back to normal.

**[Rikku Village**

Itachi had been sitting there with his little brother in his arms for awhile now, Sasuke hadn't woken up, made any noises, or even moved, he just laid there, his head resting against his older brothers' larger chest.

The clan prodigy held him close with one hand, rubbing his back with the other, Itachi had never known what it was to fear, atleast not until now.

It was getting late and he found himself, emotionally and physically exhausted from the day's events, and the warmth of the water…….he found himself nodding off, it was becoming harder to stay awake with each passing moment. Wasn't long before he did slip into sleep, and a young child's body began to fall out of his now loose grip and sink into the water-

Only to be picked up from behind by another who carried Sasuke over to another spot to sit and held him there himself. Fugaku couldn't help but be concerned about how Itachi could allow himself to just shut down like that, but he had to remind himself that Itachi wasn't important in this situation, Sasuke was, speaking of which…..

"Mmm…" The clan leader at first didn't hear it, but when he felt a weight shift in his arms his looked down to see Sasuke cracking his eye open, the other was too wounded and painful to even try it.

All things considered, Little Sasuke probably had the muscle control and body strength equal to that of a newborn, but heck, Mr.Uchiha was just relieved to see some good sign concerning his youngest.

He felt it when Sasuke struggling to grip his arms, a natural reaction to want to be closer to safety he subconsciously knew was there. Soon the child stopped even trying as he returned to being still as the steam continued to warm his body, letting some well-needed sleep take over, which was hard considering the enormous pain from the side of his face……..

**[ FF to Morning **

Itachi began to wake up, immediately becoming extremely alert and focused when he realized that Sasuke wasn't in his hold, but he went back to being calmer when he saw His little brother and his father together peacefully resting over to his left.

He quietly made his way through the water over to them, The raven-haired boy's back was facing him as his tiny little arms seemed to have clutched to his fathers waist had they had any strength or energy.

Itachi gently and lightly rested his hand on the smaller boys back, just to check, all became tense for a moment when he didn't feel anything.

But a feeling of relief filled him as he felt his hand rise up, then down, his onyx-eyed little brother had made it though, he had survived!

It was then that the door to the steam room opened; the two guards and the doctor standing before it.

"And how are we doing this morning?" he asked not wanting to show the true concern he did have for these three strangers.

"Alive, thankfully" Itachi responded, his hand continuing to rub his otouto's back.

"Really now? That's a remarkably good sign" He commented as he stepped over and lifted the light child out of his now awake fathers hands.

"Hmm, he's still physically weak, needs some rest, food, and serious TLC, if all goes very well he'll be back to his old self in a week or two, like I said before, it's still a pretty big 'IF'.."

The elder brother ignored the comment as he removed himself from the water, his skin feeling very relaxed and thoroughly hydrated. He grabbed a nearby bathrobe that had been placed there for them and tied it tight around his waist, following the doctor as he carried Sasuke into a nearby examination room, he was intent on staying with his little brother through every bit of this experience.

Fugaku allowed himself to relax for abit longer, it wasn't everyday that he got to soak in a hot spring with no impending duties on his shoulders, and he very well knew that Sasuke was in capable hands.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, the events of the past few weeks going through his mind like one big confusing messy blur, there was his son's disappearance, then his being arrested, Ornlos attempt to assault his wife which was thankfully stopped by that grimy mutt-

Wait a minute…..where was that wolf now?

His eyes shot open as he realized that Ammy never followed them into the gates of the town, she blended in with the snow so well…no one noticed her….its been a full night….what if-

"Oh brother…" he moaned as he left the warmth of the spa and dried himself off, placing his uniform back on to protect him from the freezing cold. The cold air instantly bit at his skin when he opened the door and walked out, one of the guards from the previous night that recognized him walked beside him in a friendly manner.

"Where you going?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

"To go check on something" he mumbled as the snow crunched under his boots, he walked right up to the gates and the guard let him through, he walked several feet forward and stood still for a moment, looking around for any signs of a wolf being present.

Nothing.

He really wanted to believe that she had left them alone and went off to go join some wild pack, but if he never tried to at least call it he knew that Mikoto would never let it down.

He brought two fingers to his mouth, a high-pitched shrill whistle followed.

Everything was dead still………..

He shrugged, atleast now no one could say he didn't try, he turned around to re enter the town and was shocked at what had stood right behind him the whole time.

A slight giggling noise could be heard from the guard when he saw the look on the usually stern man's face; Amaris on the other hand wagged a bushy tail, looking up at her master with eyes that had the 'what now?' look in them.

The old Uchiha sighed before proceeding back into Rikku, Ammy following him and the guard staying behind to stand his watch.


	24. Chapter 24

The doctor carried the young Uchiha into the examination room, laying his frail body out on the table, his neck resting on rolled up green towel.

He started carefully feeling down one arm for anything fractured or broken in any way, then he did the other, but his area of most concern was around his eye.

The medic carefully peeled the bandage away, wincing as he did so, trying his best to be gentle.

"Hmm, not good…..not good at all"

"What?"

"The gashes will eventually heal, leaving scars of course, in some places it tore straight through to the mouth cavity, but its up here in the corner of his eye that I am most worried about, you see-" he turned Sasuke's head to face his older brother and pointed at the corner, where Itachi could easily see where there was a cut in his actual eyeball.

"I don't know if it will affect his eyesight, probably will, but right now the most important thing is to make sure nothing gets infected."

Itachi didn't answer, just stood and watched as the man took a cloth with antibacterial liquid on it and touched here and there around the side of his face.

Almost as if it were a delayed reaction a squeal escaped the child's throat out of pain from the terrible sting; he immediately began shifting around, trying to get away, trying to escape the pain.

Itachi stepped in and pressed one hand to his otouto's chest, trying to hold him still, that's when his good eye shot open, wildly darting around from side to side. In full blown panic Sasuke struggled to move, his knees lightly rising, showing he would have been trying to back away had he had the strength………..

The Older Uchiha found himself soon having to hold his little brother in his arms to make him sit still for the doctor, every time the medic poked at him with that cloth he would mumble something and try to move or turn away, but his niisan's stronger, bigger arms prevented him from doing so.

After about 10 grueling minutes the man was done and placing a bandage over his wounds, the raven-haired boy just rested there in the warm embrace, his fingers twitching from time to time.

"You can either leave him here or take him with you and try and make him eat something, I'd bet he'll have more energy then" the doc suggested as he put some final touches on the bandages.

**[ A bit Later……**

Getting Sasuke to eat was definitely a challenge, Itachi had left him in his father's care as he went and got some food, he made sure and got soft, easy chewed food, not that it did him any good later anyway, little Sasuke was so weak he couldn't hold his head up right.

The thought of what was slowly happening to his otouto scared Itachi deep down to the core, but he didn't let it show as he leaned the child back across his lap and propped his neck up with one hand, holding a glass of water to his lips at an angle with another, allowing small amounts to slip in.

He had been at this for about half and hour when he saw one little eye open a small bit, with a look that said 'thank you', Itachi grinned a little as he gently ruffled the others hair, but immediately continued with the water, after a few sips Sasuke's fingers twitched more and more.

Itachi got an idea and picked up just a tiny bit of rice and brought that to the young Uchiha's mouth………

Meanwhile, Fugaku was watching his eldest son take care of the younger with such great care, must have been yet another thing they got from their mother…..

He found himself soon figuring out when the best time of day to head home would be, even he knew that what this child needed was his mother………

Sasuke ever so slowly lightly chewed what he could, the water his brother was providing him with allowing it to all wash down. With each swallow he realized just how hungry he was, soon he had finished off almost half the bowl when Itachi decided that it was enough.

Little black orbs were soon hidden by eyelids as the boy fell asleep on a full tummy, his brother still holding him close and his father making plans to leave this town, and go back home, to Kohona, where they all belonged.


	25. Chapter 25

Itachi Grumbled as he was awoken from his nap, their plan was to leave early in the morning to avoid any trouble along the way, he leaned up on his arms and looked to his right, where Fugaku was wrapping a second layer of blanket around little Sasuke.

"If we leave now we can make it there before noon, the sooner the better" he commented as the clan prodigy stood to his feet and rolled his neck around getting the uncomfortable kinks out of it from sleeping in uniform.

"I'll be right back" His father muttered as he set the bundled up Sasuke on the bed and walked outside, the moment he stepped out the white wolf was at his side. But he paid her no mind as he walked down the snow covered street to the doctors office to make sure the trip back was safe for his youngest son.

Soon he was in the building, leaving Ammy outside the door, suddenly something overshadowed her, she turned around to see a man with his young daughter staring in her direction, the little girl running up to pet her………

**[ Back in the Hotel Room**

Itachi leaned over to see his little brothers face, you know, just to check. Sasuke didn't move any of his facial features, and with the blanket he couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, a sly grin came to his face as he got an idea, he slowly lifted up his hand and it came down on his otouto, two fingers poking him right in the forehead…..

He couldn't have sworn he saw him wince a little, he laughed before standing to his feet and finding his jacket, preparing to leave.

**[ At Doctors Office**

The captain of the Kohona Military Police was welcomed with quite the sight when he exited the doc's office.

The white beast was surrounded by children, she sat perfectly still and panted as the kids climbed over, sat on, and tugged on her. That's when a man approached him….

"That your dog?"

"Maybe, who wants to know?"

"I'm Kurtane Snowalker, would you consider selling the animal to me? She seems great with kids, and I'm sure I can find a use for her around town….."

Fugaku paused for a moment before answering…………………………………..

**[ Two Hour Time Skip **

The climate change was undoubtedly thanked for by the three Uchiha as they approached the gates of their homeland, Kohona.

Fugaku went one way to get Sasuke into the hospital- just for safety- as Itachi returned home to inform his mother of their arrival.

He slowly slid the paper door back, revealing his mom sitting at the table, a blanket around her shoulders and dark circles under her eyes. She was so tired she didn't even hear him come in, but of course the fact that no one ever hears the great Itachi Uchiha might have something to do with it.

Itachi rested a single hand on her shoulder, she jumped in fright, quickly tuning around to see who it was, a look of relief and extreme gratefulness on her face as she dropped her tea and turned to hug him, which this time he actually didn't pull away from her embrace.

Finally she released him and took a step back, her eyes asking a silent question 'what about Sasuke…'

"Don't fret mother, he's at Kohona hospital, he's going to be fine-" He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence as she was no loner infront of him, but by now well on her way to the hospital.

It took less than a minute for her to run through the double doors, her eyes darting back and forth for any sign of- AHA!

She found herself running down the hall and nearly tackling her husband into a tight loving hold.

"Where-" she started, but he stopped her as he pointed a finger at a glass window that allowed people to see into the room, and there, on a white sheeted bed with nurses and doctors hovering all over him was her son, her baby, her Sasuke…………..

She started to try and get into the room, but Fugaku stopped her.

"Give them a chance to look him over, then you can see him….."

"How long will that take?!"

"Maybe overnight before they know for sure if he's stable enough for visitors…."

"Stable enough?! I'M HIS MOTHER FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!" she yelled, successfully attracting the attention of everyone in the hallway.

"Mikoto calm down, please, we'll go home and the doctors will call us when he's ready" he tried to comfort her as he placed both hands on her shoulders, but she pushed him away.

"NO! I won't leave him, I'll stay here all WEEK if I have to" she stated as she turned and placed one hand on the glass, wanting so badly to be next to him, to comfort him, to help him somehow.

"Mikoto, _please_, I'm begging you, just let it go, we'll go home, and I'll tell you everything……if you don't leave now I'm going to have officers escort you home"

"Try and force me to leave and YOU will be the one needing medical attention" she growled as she turned to face him, staring him straight in the eye, needless to say, at this moment he was actually kind of scared of his wife……..


	26. Chapter 26

Somehow, someway, Fugaku convinced Mikoto to leave the hospital with him in a peaceful manner, now they were at home, and he and Itachi were telling their accounts of the story, when she heard about the piles of little bones and skulls, and how the live ones were kept in horrid conditions, tears came to her eyes, finally she couldn't take it anymore and rose to her feet.

"Where are you going?" her husband asked.

"To go for a walk, I just need to get out for awhile" she muttered, slipping on her jacket, that's when she noticed something was missing.

"Where's Ammy?" The woman asked, glaring at her husband when Itachi turned away, knowing what had been done. The clan leader reached into one of his uniform pockets and pulled out a thick stack of money, resting it on the table.

"Easiest $800 I ever made" he answered, quite satisfied with himself, his wife on the other hand was taken back, a look of shock in her eyes quickly turned to rage as she balled her fists, and without a word, left the house.

Itachi could only shake his head as he looked back to his father, man, someone sure screwed up………..

**[Elsewhere in the Village**

Mrs.Uchiha walked up and down the many streets and roads of Kohona, not really sure of where she was going, her anger still fuming. How could he? How _dare _he? Her nails were digging into the flesh of her palms when she heard a familiar noise, the sound of many children ………..

**[Kohona Hospital**

Sasuke reopened his eyes to see nothing but white, white walls, white ceiling, white bed sheets, at first it reminded him of when he was being dragged through the snow by Akuma, only thing different was that this was slightly warmer, his body still felt cold on the inside, and no matter how many blankets you threw on him nothing would change that.

He found the strength to shift his neck form left to right very slowly, looking to one side was an empty visitor's chair, and a window he could only see the sky from. On the other side was a plain wall with the door leading in and out.

Feeling tired from all this movement his eyelids became heavy once more and he rested his head on a more comfy position on the pillow and slipped back into a light nap……..

**[Kohona Town Center**

Mikoto's eyes were wide as she looked around, children, many many children, everywhere! She saw how some were so thin you could plainly see their bones, some had scabs and scrapes from who knows where, and others just plain looked sickly.

"Shika-" she started, grabbing the officer's arm as he walked by with a bowl of warm water in hand.

"Where-…….How-……..Why-"

"These little ones are from those slave camps your husband and son destroyed, I know it was pretty bad from the reports Itachi's teammates gave me, but this……this is……"

"Is despicable!" She had to control her voice and temper, why would anyone ever want to hurt a child? Her maternal instincts kicked in as she saw them all, sitting wherever there was room, most of them in _chains._

"Mrs.Uchiha please- your crushing my arm" Shika piped up, he was loosing feeling in his fingers from the lack of blood flow.

"Anything, is there anything I can do to help them?" she asked, still in shock at the scene.

"You're not the only one here who asked the same thing, I know that some of the other women have been taking one or two at a time and tending to their wounds or giving them much needed baths at the springs while we wait for a decision from the Third."

She didn't need to be told twice, she immediately found one of the volunteers and found out how to get started, if she couldn't be with her baby then at least she would help someone else's.

**[Uchiha District**

"I still don't see why she would get so upset……" Fugaku wondered aloud, the only person there to hear him was Itachi, who was absentmindedly stirring his soup around, his mind elsewhere.

"I mean, come on, it was just a stupid dog…."

That's when the clan prodigy stood to his feet and left the room, he was trying to think and his father's ignorant jabberings were only making him frustrated, he wanted to just go ahead and tell him why mother would get so mad, but he didn't expect the clan leader to comprehend even then the ways of the female mind.

Slipping into more casual clothing he left home and made his way to the hospital, he would go check on Sasuke himself, one way or another.

**[ The Bathing Houses**

"Owww" the red haired child muttered as Mikoto gently went over an infected scrape on his arm, the soaps stinging it.

"I'm sorry, but it has to be cleaned…." She tried to comfort him, but still shaky from his past experiences with adults, he wanted no part of this 'help', and this torturous thing called a 'bath'.

Struggle as he might have wanted to, the kid calmed down, something about this woman was so peaceful, so comforting, he couldn't help but start enjoying it after awhile………….

**[Kohona Hospital**

Itachi landed on the fire escape right outside the window leading into Sasuke's room, soundlessly slipping under the lifted glass barrier he silently made his way next to the hospital bed, moving a few stray hairs from his outoto's face, pulling away when he saw a tiny black slit open and look straight at him.

"Nii-san?"


	27. Chapter 27

"Ssh Sasuke" Itachi whispered as he placed a finger over his little brothers mouth, he knew that the little Uchiha needed all the strength he could possibly get, and wasting any of it on talking was not an option.

"You doing ok in here otouto?" he asked, receiving a weak nod for an answer, sure he was doing _ok_, but even though he didn't have the energy to express it, he was really happy his nii-san came to check up on him.

It made Itachi glad that his brother was doing so well, taking his smaller hand in his own Itachi started gently rubbing it, just like he did in the hot-springs to warm him up, as he closed his eyes and recalled the mission, all the horror and death, even for the trained ANBU it was a hard thing to get over.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was slowly drifting back to a sleep, the massaging of his hand felt so good…………he hated sleeping so much, but for some reason he had been tired all the time lately, his lips hardly parted to let out a tiny yawn as his eye rested itself.

When Itachi finally came around Sasuke had already fallen asleep from exhaustion once more, but he continued to sit there and rub the hand that he held.

A nurse in a white uniform walked by the door, stopping dead in her tracks and backing up, thinking she had spotted something in the room.

Nope, nothing.

She continued on carrying her papers to her managers office, meanwhile, the clan prodigy stood on the outside fire escape, leaning against the wall next to the window, out of the nurses sight. He would come back and checkup on him from time to time, but for now he should get home and prepare for his next mission, to which he had already been assigned.

**[Kohona Uchiha District**

Fugaku stood to his feet when his wife entered the room, he tried to walk up and greet her with a hug or something, hoping that all had been forgiven (even though he wasn't quite sure what he did wrong), but she walked right on past him, not even acknowledging his existence.

She didn't say a word to him for the rest of the evening, throughout dinner she was silent other than when she happily greeted Itachi upon his arrival home, quietly she cleaned the dishes, got ready for the night, and wouldn't even share the same bed with her husband, instead she went to the guest room, tired from her exhausting day.

Fugaku secretly watched his wife as she lay down and fell asleep, why was she being this way? So rebellious for a woman of her position.

Eventually he want back to his own room, unable to get a clear enough head for rest.

**[The Next Day**

Sasuke was finally allowed visitors the next morning, and you can bet that Mikoto was in that waiting room at least half-an hour early to make sure she could spend every possible moment with her baby.

Fugaku, on the other hand, was a no-show. Mikoto had seen him leave that morning in his uniform, not even mentioning breakfast or any 'good morning' that usually came, not that she planned on giving him either anytime soon.

"Mrs. Uchiha you can see your son soon" a nurse holding a clipboard informed her.

"Thank you" she briefly said as she quickly passed by her, practically running all the way to his room, quietly she entered the room, immediately at his side.

She smiled softly as she set her hand on his tiny forehead, his eye opened as she had unintentionally awoken him

"Mommy?" he asked weakly, turning over to face her.

"Oh Sasuke, my sweet baby" She cooed over him, bringing him into a tight and warm hug.

"Mom" he whined, a night of rest and some good food and he had regained some energy.

**[Later that day….**

Hours later Mikoto was ushered off by the nurses, as hard as it was for her to leave, she knew that it was hospital rules, and besides, she wanted to go check up on those little kids……

After hours of scrubbing, bandaging, and some good Ole TLC she practically dragged her tired feet across the threshold into her home, she had decided to forgive her husband sometime between wrestling a four-year old into a tub of water and chasing a nudist 9-yr old around the spa house.

"Itachi, Fugaku, anyone home?"

Silence.

She shrugged it off as she filled a pot full of water for rice and placed some fresh vegetables in a pan.

Itachi never came home, on a mission, and Fugaku, well, he was probably avoiding her at all cost by doing extra desk work at the station.

All alone she silently ate dinner, did dishes, and prepared herself for bed, when she was ready to lay down in her old bed she heard a noise outside the door………


	28. Chapter 28

**(A/N: So srry about my total lack of updates, i swear i've been busy with school...mumbles and world of warcraft...anyway clears throat since its early in the morning where i am and i have time i wanted to just say a few things to my most loyal reviewers (you guys rock!!)**

**K94evur: agian. srry for lack of updates, and thx for being such a loyal rviewer is wearily hiding behind Ammy in her human form from K94evurs' knife**

**Kimshimoto: hehe, glad you like it **

**Dragon77: aww thx, but i think you meant chapter 28...lol**

**Nellie330: you'll find out soon enough evil laugh**

**anyways, on with the story **

Mikoto quickly snuck around the corner, peering into the kitchen at what was making the noise, she became wide awake as she stared at the door which was slowly being slid open from the outside….

**[ Some other village**

****

Itachi rested his head against a tree as his teammates brought out the makings of fire and dinner, they were on a two day mission to retrieve a scroll and bring it back, basic delivery-boy duty, except for they had to cross through enemy country to get to it, but so far there had been no mishaps, despite the clan prodigy's absent-mindedness for he was thinking about what might be happening back in Kohona to the one he called otouto.

**[Back in the Uchiha district**

****

Mikoto's shoulders sagged in relief when she saw who it had been.

"Fugaku why are you home so late-" she stopped short, she didn't need an answer, because it was at the end of a leather leash hooked to her husbands hand.

Immediately dropping to her knees, allowing Amaris to come bounding up to her, giving her a face full of doggy spit as a happy greeting, Mikoto looked up to the clan leader, silently thanking him.

**[ What had happened with Fugaku and Ammy….**

The sun hadn't even risen when he had suddenly realized just _what _he had done wrong and _how_ he was going to fix it.

Standing to his feet Fugaku Uchiha dressed in his heavy uniform and went quickly out the door, straight to the station where he informed them he would be gone all day, then out of Kohona and back to the snow-ridden town that graciously helped save his youngest sons' life.

It didn't take him long to find it, and he was met by a few familiar faces.

"Hey look, it's the Uchiha" one of the guards started as he entered the gates, the other that had been so sociable to him before jumped down from his watch post and walked alongside him, a rather sad/hesitant look on his face when the Uchiha told him the meaning of his return.

"Ah, the white wolf, well, umm…….."

"Oh bother, what could possibly have gone wrong it's only been a day?!"

"Well the man you sold her to, Kurtane Snowalker? There's something about his clan that you probably should know…."

Fugaku sigh inwardly, why wouldn't the man straight out tell him?!

"The Snowalker clan breeds their dogs to do their labor for them then when they get too old they kill them off and sell their pelts…."

"I still don't see where you are going with this……."

"Well they tried to stick your wolf in with a male to breed her but she just plain turned and attacked him, poor thing never stood a chance, the wolf instantly tore his throat out, killed him before any of the Snowalkers could help"

"Are you trying to tell me they killed the beast because it's too aggressive?"

"Kill it?, heck no, once all the villagers heard about it they cleaned up the old fighting ring, last I heard she's been being pit against all sorts of mongrels since, and the Snowalkers are making quite the profit off her too, they most probably won't be wanting to give her up anytime soon…"

Fugaku groaned inwardly, this definitely wasn't a good sign, but he had to at least try.

After being escorted to the fighting ring where the sounds of growls and whines were audible even from outside its thick wooden walls, he found himself standing at the edge, his hands gripping the rails as a fight was in midway, this average-sized gray mutt was being thrown to the ground by his neck by a white flash.

The bottom of the pit was sand, and the walls making the circle around it were dashed with red splatters, blood.

"ANOTHER WIN FOR KURTANE SNOWALKER AND HIS BEAST, CLAW!"

"Claw? They renamed it 'claw'? That's it I'm putting an end to this riot" Fugaku thought to himself, looking around for that dreadful man he had made the mistake of selling his wife's friend to.

"Hey, Snowalker" he barked out as soon as he was sanding next to him"

"Hm? Oh, it's you, glad to see we're putting the creature to good use eh?" Kurtane smirked as he fingered the cash between his fingers, there was a good stack of it, looked like he had already remade quadruple the amount that he had paid for Amaris.

"Actually, not quite, I have changed my mind, I want to buy her back from you" Kurtane almost laughed, thinking it was some sort of joke.

"Buy it back? Seriously you must be joking"

"Do I look like I'm joking? Now tell me, what's it going to take to get the beast back from you?"

**[ Back to Present time**

"Oh Dear, well what did he want?" Mikoto asked as she tried to fix something nice and warm for her husband and Ammy to eat after their long journey back, but the exciting story being told by her clan's leader was very distracting.

"Well, seeing that she had been on a winning streak, he made me a bet"

**[Back we go, to the fighting ring….**

"Ok Uchiha, how about this" the Snowalker proposed as he pocketed his money, a smirk of an expected win plastered on his smug face.

"I have an old mixed mutt in my stables, he has won more fights than I can count, and to this day I am still living off the money he made me, I retired him a while back and allowed him to breed with a few chosen others, but none of his young have ever matched his power or speed, if my champion defeats your wolf, then I keep her and I will do as I please, but if she somehow manages to overpower Kuro, you can take her, is it a deal? "

**[Change back to present time Uchiha district**

"Fugaku you can't tell me you accepted?"

"I didn't have much of a choice, besides, she would have been killed sooner or later anyway, only risk was an early death to keep her from suffering"

"sighs men…" Mikoto grumbled as she ladled the soup over the rice, placing it in front of her husband.

**[Rewind to the fight**

Fugaku felt a little unsure of himself as his grip tightened on the rails, some Snowalker boys had been sent to fetch Kuro, the mixed breed that would decide whether or not his Mikoto would ever be at peace with him again.


	29. Chapter 29

Fugaku's jaw dropped when he saw the size of that…..monster! it was a huge, well muscled black creature that's shoulder could have easily been aligned with the police captain himself if we're stupid enough to go stand next to him.

He'd might as well leave now, there's no way he's getting Amaris back by the looks of it, speaking of which, she was at the bottom of the sand pit, looking straight up at him with almost a hurt look on her beast eyes,.

**[ Present time Kohona**

Sasuke's eyes slowly opened, the only light in the room was from the full moon outside his window. He had just woken up, and despite a slight tinge of pain around his eye he felt pretty good actually, and not to mention wide awake from all the sleep he had been getting.

That's when he realized how thirsty he was, his tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth and his throat was dry, looking over he saw a few bottles of water on a nearby desk for visitors.

His mission: get water.

Hesitantly he leaned himself up, finding it hard to do even that as his head swam in dizziness, but he had to push that all aside If he ever wanted to get that terrible morning taste out of his mouth.

**Back to Fugaku's story**

A harsh snarling noise could be heard as they led Kuro to the holding pen, his yellow eyes glowing in the darkness sent a chill up the Uchiha's spine.

Ammy on the other hand was laying down, catching her breath and energy, it had been a very long day, and she was very weary, but if it meant getting out of here she would do it, even if it meant causing permanent or fatal harm to the abomination in the holding cage only yards away from her.

**[ Present Time Uchiha District**

Her husband had already finished off his meal, so had the white Ookami that was currently lying down near the doorway, being the guard she had been trained to be.

"Then what happened?" Mikoto urged, she always loved a good story.

**[Mission impossible: Kohona hospital edition**

He had leaned up, sat up, and managed to throw his legs over the edge of the bed, now for the part he hadn't thought about: walking.

He had to do this, he had to take a chance, he had survived over a week in child slave camps, marched many miles through rough forest, nearly froze to death after falling down a waterfall, and lived to tell the tale (had he been actually aware of it all) for the love of God he should be able to walk two stupid feet and get himself something to drink!

And with the little pep-talk he slid down the side of the bed, grabbing the edge as a support when he stood- except that never happened, he feet collapsed right out from under him the moment they touched the floor, releasing his holding on the rail out of panic and surprise he felt the ground coming closer-

But it never did.

**[Doggy fight scene round one, DING!**

The sound of metal grinding when they lifted the bar gate that held the black creature inside its pen was high-pitched and loud, making Ammy drop her head t try and cover her ears, big mistake.

In the second her eyes were down Kuro sprinted out of his cage, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her airborn, her claws reaching to make any contact with the bigger wolfs flesh did nothing to help, next thing she knew she was tossed into a nearby wall.

No. No more. She wasn't even about to let this half bred mongrel even have the satisfaction of keeping her down, in a flash she disappeared, appearing right behind her assailant.

BOOM!!

A ball of energy was let loose, Kuro hit the stone wall and sunk to the ground, his entire left shoulder fractured and his fur singed, a crack was left where he hit the wall.

Fugaku's eyes widened as he realized something, Amaris wasn't a normal dog, she was-

**[ Present time Uchiha district**

"A ninja dog!?" Mikoto stood to her feet, staring at Amaris, then to Fugaku, then back at Ammy.

"Technically ninja-wolf but I get your point" Her husband commented as he sipped his green tea.

"Well….that explains a lot……"

**[Kohona hospital: Uchiha Sasuke's room**

Sasuke wondered for a moment why he was levitating a foot off the ground, all his questions were answered with two words from a familiar voice.

"Foolish otouto"


	30. Chapter 30

**(a/n: ok ya'll, i'm sorry about how number 29 turned out, i'm pretty sure i was on sugar high, i just hope this one is better.**

Sasuke felt the rim of a cup of fresh cold water at his lips and drank rather greedily as he sat in between Itachi's crossed legs, only stopping to take a breath then drink more.

After he had finished the entire glass off he leaned back against his older brother's chest.

"Nii-san, where you been?" he now had the strength to hold his head up and talk, but as demonstrated before walking was out of the question.

"Mission, just got back under an hour ago" yep, that was his brother, short, sweet, simple, and quick to the point.

"Aniki, when can I go home? it's so…..boring here"

"I know otouto, I know, but until the doctors give the go ahead you are to stay in bed, no more trying to get an up-close look at the floors, ok?"

"Yes nii-san"

"Good" Itachi ended the conversation as he laid his little brother back down on the hospital bed, making sure he was comfortable before standing and walking back to the window.

"Good night Sasuke" He murmured as he exited through the window, already halfway home by now.

"Night Aniki…….."

**[The Village dog fighting ring**

Kurtane's jaw dropped as he saw his beloved champion being thrown against the wall like a ragdoll.

A wise owner would have pulled their contestant out of the fight, but Kurtane was greedy and quite abit too prideful to consider such an act.

Kuro shakily stood to his feet only to be knocked down again as Amaris ran at him and jumped into the air, twisting her body around to where all the force in her back legs his him square in the side, jumping off him and landing on the other side of the sand pit.

The black beast's anger was turning to rage as he ignored the pain and dashed forward, but by the time he got to the spot where the smaller white one had been standing, she was gone.

His sickly yellow eyes darting left and right, he turned he head just in time to see her coming at him to kick him once more, this time he was prepared.

He reached and bit down with his jaws so fast he was able to catch her leg in his mouth, and using it to slam her to the ground he immediately went for her neck.

POOF

It had been a clone, distraught and bewildered Kuro quickly became unsure of himself, that's when the white wolf made her final bow, an energy ball erupted and sent him flying, this time when he landed, he'll never get up again.

After it was made clear that the match was over, people started talking about the fight as they left, Kurtane mysteriously disappeared, and in the blink of an eye Ammy had jumped out of the pit and was sitting next to Fugaku, calmly awaiting orders.

**[Uchiha District**

"Well thank goodness you are both home safe" Mikoto commented as her husband ended the story right as his eldest son came in.

"Itachi, back from your mission so soon?" His father asked as a tired and rather exhausted clan prodigy walked right on past him, only mumbling and answer as he went to go shower and head to bed.

Speaking of which, soon that's where Fugaku and Mikoto were going, and Amaris slept in her usual spot right outside the door, he shaggy white fur coat keeping her nice and toasty warm.

**[The next morning**

Itachi and Mikoto were present as the doctors were to remove the bandage covering Sasuke's eye, after giving it time to heal and some appropriate meds it was expected that it would be healed up enough to not need them.

Slowly layer after layer came off until the final one slipped off on its own, his mother had to keep herself from gasping infront of him at the sight.

Scarred, terribly etched lines ran from right above his eye down his cheek, Itachi could only look away to keep his composure in check, Sasuke didn't know what was going on-

Until he rested his hand where the injury was.

What was he going to do?


	31. Chapter 31

Sasuke rested his head against his older brother, scar-side down as the doctors released him from the hospital, ordering him plenty of bed rest and no moving around for awhile, the entire walk home was filled with good-intentioned people saying hi, but he just wanted to go home…..

Then the morning came when Ornlos was to be presented and hopefully charged by Lord Hokage

Itachi, Mikoto, and Fugaku all went, leaving Sasuke with Ammy who never left his side the entire morning as he slept, keeping his smaller child's body warm.

Soon they were sitting on the tatami floor of a dimly lit room, the door opened and a man with his hands cuffed behind his back was led in by two ANBU and forced to be seated across from the Uchiha head clan family.

After what seemed like an eternity of glaring and muttering curses between the sides the Third himself entered the room, sat at his usual spot, and the meeting began.

**-Quite awhile later-**

"You keep forgetting, I have no motive to do this, I love my clan and honor its leader, why would I try and hurt him or his offspring?" Ornlos muttered plainly, lying through his teeth as 3 pairs of sharinghan stared right at him.

"Revenge"

All eyes went on Itachi.

"When we went through your trash I found the bill of sale from when you sold my brother into slavery-"

"Anybody could have planted that there to frame me" the former police officer defended, keeping his eyes to the floor.

"You didn't allow me to finish, we also went through your house and belongings, that's where I found these" Itachi pulled out a small wooden box and placed it on the table before them, Ornlos' eyes went wide with fear and anger.

Opening the box the clan prodigy took out the small old papers and laid them out on the flat surface for everyone to observe.

Pictures, lot's of them, of a much younger Mikoto.

**[Back to Sasuke **

Sasuke was getting frustrated, every time he tried to get on his hands and knees to prop himself up, trying to rebuild his strength, there was that blasted wolf to knock him back down on his back, apparently whoever owned it before taught it some tricks, like grabbing the blanket with her mouth and pulling it up to someone's neck.

Soon he wasted all his energy on trying to get up and just laid there, tired from his activities, Amaris lying down next to him.

**[The 'Trial' **

Fugaku took some of the pictures into his hands, where……..how………why……..he looked over to his wife for the answers, she seemed just as confused as he was.

That is, until she suddenly remembered something.

"Oh no…….Ornlos…..you didn't……" she started, the three other men in the room looking between her and the man across from her.

"Maybe I did" He stated bluntly with his arms crossed.

"Mikoto, what the heck is going on here?" her husband asked, trying to keep his anger in check.

"Fugaku, don't you remember Rosu?"

"Rosu? That creep that was always around you? Vaguely, why?"

"I do believe his full name was Rosu Ornlos Uchiha"

Rosu, or Ornlos, whichever you want him to be known as shifted in his seat; he knew that once Mikoto put all the pieces together it would all be over, the stress was too much, he snapped.

"And to think you don't even remember me!"

"Excuse me?" Mrs.Uchiha questioned, her mind digging for why the man seemed so familiar to her…..wait…the pictures…she remembered them being taken now…….

**[Flashback**

"Rosu come on, that enough of those!" Mikoto giggled as there was another flash, Rosu had been snapping shots of her all day, not that she minded all that much.

"This was supposed to be a nice, peaceful, wonderful _date_ and you're turning it into a photo shoot"

"Can you blame me? Beauty such as yours deserves to be captured forever" Rosu stated as he took her hand and kissed it lightly, making her blush.

"Mikoto! Where are you?!" a deep voice could be heard nearby, her father.

Hurriedly she ushered her boyfriend to hide in some nearby bushes just moments before her dad found her.

"Father, what a …..surprise, why were you look-"

"I need to speak with you, at home, now" before she knew it she was being dragged by her wrist, looking back she saw a disappointed looking young Uchiha man looking back at her, his eyes full of hurt and pain that the girl he loved being taken away from him for the time being.

**[End flashback **

"I remember that day now….it was the day I found out I had been set in a……..arranged marriage……" Mikoto couldn't help but glance over to Fugaku; he was angry, so very angry.

"I soon forgot all about you Rosu, I fell in love with another….I'm sorry….."

"Apparently he never forgot about you…." Itachi commented, glancing at the pictures.

"I can tell you exactly what happened" the clan prodigy spoke up, Rosu's knuckles going white.

"After finding out that your lady love here was no longer available, instead of moving on like you should have done you pent up all your anger, I can tell from your journals and diaries, the things you wrote, you hated my father, with each event in their life your entries became more and more….disturbing, when they married you became ill for a month, when news of my conception was made public you loathed the very mention of his name, but when my otouto came around….you seeked revenge……


	32. Chapter 32

Finally Sasuke was able to stand on his feet- holding onto Ammy's harness of course, but he was standing nonetheless.

A small growling noise form his stomach told him what he needed was food, but the idea of crawling to the kitchen was completely humiliating, maybe……….

**[Lord Hokage's Office **

"Ok fine, I admit it all, I tried to kill the little brat, I wanted it to suffer, I wanted you all to know what it was like to lose something you held dear, even if it was that little bastard-"

**BAM**

Fugaku was standing now, his knuckles white form his clenched fists being held so tight.

"Don't. EVER. Insult either of my kids, you got that!?"

Rosu was brought under control, as was Fugaku, order was soon restored and they were back to sitting down again, the traitor's eyes tearing up at the clan leader had broken his nose.

"Now that's quite enough excitement, Rose if you speak out of turn like that again I will kick you out of here myself, and Uchiha, control yourself" The Third ordered, looking from one to another.

**[Back at the Manor**

Sasuke clenched his legs around Amaris' waist as he clinged to her, she had stood perfectly still for him as he pulled himself up and over onto her back, now she was slowly, ever so slowly, walking to the kitchen, at first he thought he might have been to big, but she somehow had gotten larger to accommodate him for the ride.

Weird.

Laying down once they were in the kitchen, she let him get off, watching his every move incase he got weak and fell like he had done many times before since he had gotten home from the hospital.

Holding onto the counter the entire way he made it to the plate of fresh rice balls his mother had made that morning, grabbing a few in his tiny hand he turned to walk the counter back, but was stopped when he found the suddenly twice-his-size canine standing right beside him.

Laying down where he stood, she allowed him to get down, and using her for a cushion, eat his lunch. She was used to this kind of treatment, back home she was often drafted into baby sitting duty, where rides and being used as a lunch table were common things.

**( A/N: ok people's, this is where you tell me whether or nto you want me to do a chapter explaining Amaris and where she came from, how she got there, but if you don't care then don't bother saying anything……)**

**[The Third's Headquarters.**

"Rosu Uchiha" The Lord started, writing it down on an official document to make sure it happened. "You are hereby charged with the attempted murder of a child, involvement in child trafficking, and attempt to frame a police officer for your actions, you will spend life in prison, on your way there be sure and admire the daylight while you can, it's the last you're going to be seeing for a long time"

Not saying anything aloud in happiness at the time being, as no Uchiha does, the family sat quietly until the man was escorted out by the officers, that's when The Third turned to them.

"I'm sorry any of you ever had to go through any of that, my deepest and most sincere apologies"

Fugaku bowed his head, as did his wife and eldest son before they stood and left, relieved to get it all over with finally.

When they got home Itachi peeked into Sasuke's room, seeing him laying face-down on the new family pet, bits of rice stuck to his mouth. Walking in he picked him up, the white beast only turning her head to watch what he was doing as he carried his otouto bridal style and laid him down on his futon, the raven-haired child mumbling incoherent things in his sleep.

Seeing that he had no current missions, his father returning to work and his mother leaving to go to the market, the clan prodigy laid down next to his brother, his arm holding his back close to him, the wolf coming over to be an automatic foot warmer as they rested for the rest of the afternoon.

**(srry for it beign so short, but if enough people want it the one that revelas who the wolf really is will be pretty long...and yes of course it will have lots of Sasuke and Itachi i n it)**


	33. Chapter 33

It had been over a month now since Rosu had been imprisoned, Sasuke had made a full recovery but was still wary about his scars, everybody stared, and the other kids were the worst when it came to poking fun, the young Uchiha dreaded the very thought of having to go to the academy, and did all he could to procrastinate against going.

He didn't like being with the other kids, Uchiha or otherwise, but he also disliked being home alone, bored all day, so he would walk Amaris out to the old livestock fields when they were empty and hop on for a ride, when he would she would use a growth jutsu to increase her size, making her nearly the height of a horse, then she and Sasuke would place targets in random places, as they ran through he would try and hit them with target, he missed them the first few days, but gradually he hit them more and more.

It was a moonlit night, the stars were out and the winter was slowly turning to spring as Amaris Ookami laid outside on the porch, head buried in her bushy white tail.

The family was all asleep and sound; the only noises that could be heard were the crickets chirping and the creatures of the night making their rounds and catching their dinners.

The moon made her restless, she remembered the old days when she and her entire clan would go out on the full moon nights and go hunt down the largest prey they could find, deer, wild pigs, huge bulls, you name it.

Breaking into teams, the group which brought in the biggest kill would win some sort of prize, then everyone would build campfires and cook the kills, afterwards after eating their fill they would sleep under the stars, it was a wonderful family bonding event she missed dearly, but those days are gone now, probably for forever.

Closing her eyes memories swept through her mind like sand falling through her fingers, her village, her family, her brothers, her dad, heck, he might have been tough and gruff to others but when it came to his little girl he was a big teddy bear……………..she could remember his voice, his howl, oh god she could swear she remembered it so vividly it was like she was hearing it right then and there……….

Wait a minute……

A confused look graced her features as she stood, running out of the Uchiha district, and soon out of the village gates, not stopped or halted by anyone.

She had ran about a mile outside of Kohona, and hadn't heard any noise, perhaps her imagination was playing tricks on her, making her hear things that weren't really there, ready to turn and head back home, a twig snapped behind her, she looked just in time to see a large pair of sharp, terrible jaws coming right at her. …………

**[later that morning, Uchiha district**

A sleepy-eyes Sasuke walked into the kitchen, taking his seat at the table, he still couldn't bring himself to look up or to people, he was still ashamed of his scars.

His mother set a bowl of rice and green tea in front of him, he ate it as fast as someone avoiding eye contact could and excused himself, grabbing the lash which was Amaris', running out of the house into the backyard he scanned around, usually she was always there, waiting for him, but today she wasn't.

"Mother, where is Ammy?" he asked shyly, head down.

"Isn't she in the yard?"

"No ma'am" he held the leash behind his back, folded to where he could grip it in its layers in both hands, he could sense his father looking at him, he wanted so much not to be there right then.

"Hmm, then I have no idea, go look around, maybe she just wanted to go stretch her legs……" she suggested, washing the last of the dishes.

"I'll go with you, help you look" an older voice came from the doorway, an already dressed Itachi walked through, his father opened his mouth to protest but Itachi walked on right past him, he gently touched Sasuke's shoulder, guiding him out, leaving a slightly angered Fugaku and a sighing Mikoto behind.

The clan prodigy kept himself slowed down a little as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, making sure Sasuke could keep up but not feel like he was burdening him.

The brothers searched everywhere, and following a faint ninja-dog chakra trial Itachi tracked her down to outside Kohona gates, where a small clearing filled with disturbed dirt and plants lay, trampled and ripped apart, something happened here, a fight most probably, or at least a struggle.

"Nii-san…." Sasuke started when he saw something on the ground, bending over and picking it up, he immediately recognized it.

Ammy's harness, the thick leather straps ripped to bits.

Itachi was about to say something when a white streak flew past them, making the dirt fly, recognizing what it was they exchanged glances before taking after it, Itachi having to move at full speed just to keep up, which was barely accomplished.

The furry white beast flew through Kohona, knocking people over and tearing up the skin on her paws as the stones and pebbles ripped the skin.

Itachi, with Sasuke holding on dearly to his back, turned a corner to see a police officer tripping over something as he was walking out the door of the station.

She wasn't hard to track inside the building, they just had to follow the trail of bloody paw prints she left behind, which lad them straight to Fugaku's office, peeking in they saw a rather shocked clan leader with a blood covered formerly-white-furred wolf leaning into his legs, crying in pain both and fright……………………….

**muahaha, see what happens when a bunch of peoepl review? you get fast updates,a dn dont wory, the 'who amaris is' saga will be a few chapters long, this is jsut one of several, i hoep to have more doen during the week**


	34. Chapter 34

Amaris was too terrified to act or move on her own, all she did was whine and cry, attracting the attention of other officers.

"Sir, what's wrong with your dog?" Shika asked as he stood in the doorway, leaning in to find out what all the commotion was about.

"That's what I would like to know" he muttered, looking at his boys for an answer.

"We don't know, she ran past us and into here on her own" Itachi explained as Sasuke slid off his back, kneeling next to his injured friend, holding out his hand she placed her paw in it, but wouldn't leave Fugaku's side.

"She needs to go to the vet" he commented, went he touched the top part of her bleeding pot she yanked it from his grasp, whining in more pain.

Groaning in disinterest and being bothered, the head officer bent over and picked the wolf up, telling Shika that he would return in awhile, followed by his boys he carried her all the way to the vet's office.

**[Kohona Veterinarian Office**

"Well?" he asked as the vet parted some fur, finding where the blood was coming from.

"Fight bites"

"What?"

"The bite marks making your pet here bleed, they all go in a pattern, something with very big jaws grabbed this one and threw it around like a rag doll, judging by the way they are ripped to the side" Dr.Yates explained, taking out scissors to cut the fur around each puncture wound.

Twenty-seven.

That's how many times a jagged tooth had sunk into her skin.

That's how many openings had been let to bleed out.

That's how many bald spots she had now.

With the antibacterial treatment added, very painfully might I add, and all bandaged up she was put into a kennel until they could make sure she was clear of infection.

Sasuke rested his hand around the thin, cold metal bar, looking down at his friend at the bottom of the cage, curled up to keep warm.

"Sir!"

Shika came running into the room, having everyone's complete and undivided attention.

"What is it Shika?"

"There's something at the gates you really should come see, wolves, big ones! Tons of them!"

Itachi and Fugaku glanced at each other before running out the door to see what was going on, Sasuke reluctantly leaving Ammy to follow them.

When they reached the gates their jaws dropped, just as Shika had described, there was a pack of rather large wolves, just sitting outside the walls, as if they had nothing better to do.

"Mr.Uchiha, Itachi, I just received word from Lord Hokage's office, he is summoning you two to his quarters." Stated a nearby officer from behind.

Stealing another look at the group of furry beasts they made their way to the Third's office, having a pretty good idea of what it was all about.

They were hurriedly escorted inside, when they entered the meeting room they saw the Third on his side of the table, and on the other side was a large man with dark black, long hair and an authoritive, austere look to him.

"Fugaku, this is Ika, leader of the Ookami clan" The Hokage paused before continuing.

"He claims you have his daughter"


	35. Chapter 35

"What are you talking about? I don't have you- " he stopped mid-sentence after he got a better look at the large man in the dimly-lit room, he had a certain look to him……..maybe……..

"Here, I think I know just who you are here for" He led them out of the office and through the streets of Kohona where the villagers stared at the head Ookami.

He was a giant of a man, stood 1 ½ ft. taller than Fugaku; brute strength seemed to be what gave him favor in battle if it ever came to it.

Soon they arrived at the veterinary clinic, where they went to the back room, and the moment Ika walked in through the door the yappy dogs suddenly went dead silent, there was something about him they could sense, that they could feel…….

Not even having to look around he went straight for the kennel where Ammy was and unlocked it, reaching a hand in and pulling her out by the loose skin of her neck, apparently it did not hurt her for she was silent as she stared at him with respect, mostly the fearing kind of respect, but it was there nonetheless.

"Do you plan on just taking her?" Lord Hokage spoke up, his hands held behind his back.

Ika closed his eyes, his furred ear twitching.

"She is my offspring; I do believe that gives me every right to take her back"

"Please, don't leave now……..can't you wait a few days, I'm sure there's much your clan and this village can benefit from a few days together" the Third stated, always being the one for broadening of Kohona's horizons….

Itachi felt something clutch the fabric of the back of his pant leg.

Sasuke.

"Not to be rude, but if you don't mind me asking, how can a dog be your daughter?" He asked his eyes half open.

Letting out a loud, audible sigh, Ika held the beast up until he could hold her on to him with one arm.

"My clan, my bloodline, because of our strong ties with the spirit of the pack, we are given a second chance at life, when our first time ends, and it would seem that, for the first time in many generations, a chieftain has outlived one of his pups"

"Ah, a kekkai genkai, so to speak, very interesting yes" the Third stated as he straightened his large white hat.

"Now if you don't mind, I have a family to lead on a very long journey back home" He grumbled as he walked toward them as if to pass, but something stopped him.

"You can't just take her! She's our family!" stopping dead in his tracks he looked over his shoulder to see the police captain holding a hand over the mouth of a small child that seemed to be a miniature version of the other teen there.

"Hmph, he yours?" he directed the question at Fugaku, Sasuke trying to get the hand off his face that was cutting off all his breathing.

"Yes, yes he is"

"Hmm, I see………" he paused for a moment, he might have been gruff and tough on the outside, but under all the layers of tough and strict there was a guy that did really love kids, heck, why else would he have 12 of his own.

Crouching down to the small Uchiha's level, he asked him a simple question.

"Would you like to meet the rest of my family?"

**[Right inside Kohona Gates**

All attention was on Ika as he returned to where his family had gathered to wait for him when he went to retrieve the missing sister.

His sons, all 11 of them, stood at attention in their human forms, heads bowing with respect when he walked by, a kind rub between the ears was given to Amaris as she walked behind him, as he had allowed her to walk on her own on the way over.

It seemed that Mikoto had already met his wife, Hoshi, as they chattered away and sipped tea nearby, no matter how far apart from each other they dwelled, all females speak in the international language of mom, so to say.

"So, Hoshi, so if Amaris is your daughter, how did she end up here in Kohona?" Mikoto asked as she sipped some more of the green beverage, Hoshi had already filled her in on everything about her daughter.

The white haired woman let out a sigh, it was apparently a painful memory she regretted dearly.

"When Ika refused to allow her to join the army with her brothers she ran away, we've been searching for months around our village, Naito, but it wasn't until a series of visions came to our elders that we were directed to come in these areas and look, it seems we got lucky……….."

Meanwhile, the villagers and the Ookami had slowly started to warm up to each other and mingle, heck, soon even Itachi found himself sparring with one of the wolf-man teens, needless to say he won, of course, which only encouraged a rematch, or two.

"I know this might be a foolish question to ask, but, are you really going to take her back to a place she ran away from?"

"Ika might seem a harsh man, but he loves his only daughter dearly, and couldn't eat or sleep while she was gone, making him weak, soon some of the young men of the clan began scheming to challenge him for leadership, he just wants her back, safe and sound, under his wing" Hoshi shook her head slowly as she took another drink.

"And you disagree?"

"I know she'll only try and get away again, I know I'll miss her and it would break Ika's heart, but, she won't be happy until she's free"

"I see………I feel bad for your husband, having such heartache for so long, I know the feeling, I just hope that my Sasuke isn't hurt too much when she's gone"

"Mrs.Uchiha, not by a long shot, I don't want to see my child gone either, but…...she just seems so happy here, so content, it seems she's already adopted you and your family as her own- wait a second"

"What is it?" Mikoto asked, setting down her tea glass.

"I know a way that, if it works out, will give almost everybody what they want"

"And how is that?"

"Someone has to challenge Ika for ownership over Amaris"

**(A/N: sorry for shortness, but I just love cliffhangers, dont you, btw, I'm sorry if these past few chapters have been centered around my OC instead of the brothers, it will get back to them soon enough don't worry)**


	36. Chapter 36

After being able to briefly pull her husband away from his new friends, (aka the Naito Police Hounds) Mikoto told him what he could, no, what he just had to do!

"And I would do this because why?" he asked his arms crossed, he was more than happy to see the mutt taken back to its rightful owner- err, family.

"But Fugaku, she doesn't _want_ to go back, and just think of how depressed our Sasuke will be when they take her……" she started, trying to appeal to his non-existent soft spot for his kids.

"He'll just have to learn to get over it" he stated before turning to walk away, but he didn't get far before he was grabbed from behind and dragged into a more secluded area by an angry sharp-nailed female Uchiha…………………….

**[ Meanwhile……..**

"Here, you hold the reins like this………" Ika instructed, his larger hands guiding little Sasuke's to hold onto the thin strip of leather tightly, he was going to teach this child how to ride a wolf properly, and to tell the truth, so far he was catching on better than any of his own clan had at this age.

"I don't know….Mr.Ookami sir…….I'm used to only riding Ammy…….….this one's so much….…..bigger……….." he stuttered out, it was true, this brown furred beast under him was twice the height and nearly triple the mass of his dear pet, how would he ever control it?

"This is Rackem, I've used him myself to teach my own children to ride for years now, he won't do anything you don't tell him to" Ika comforted him with a laugh before walking to the front of the creature and grabbing its mouthpiece, making it slowly walk forward.

Amaris, on the other hand, had her head on her large paws, letting out long and pitiful sighs in wolf language.

She loved her family, but, she just couldn't go back. Not now. Not ever.

"Looks like Dads teaching your human to ride, this oughta be fun" a deeper voice joked as a large human sat down cross-legged next to Ammy, offering a chunk of bread with a special meat sauce spread on it to her, but she didn't even look at her favorite snack. She was too depressed.

"Oh cheer up, going home isn't THAT bad" he said with his mouth full. Oh Tyre, he never really had manners, was probably what made him one of her closest brothers, both in age and behavior.

-moan-

Was the only response he could get from her, giving up he scratched the fur behind her ears and stood to his feet, stretching before going to check up on his younger siblings.

The red-eyed female looked around, all she could see was what she both hated and loved about her family, what she loved was that they were all one big social group, all acting as one, all happy and affable, what she hated was that the guys were having all the fun while the girls weren't allowed, it was tradition that the only things females were good for were cooking, cleaning, and reproduction.

Mentally shaking her head in disgust she stood on three legs, her back one had developed a limp and while she had been favoring it, the darned limb had managed to 'fall asleep' on her.

Sigh.

Seeing Sasuke having finished his lesson she awkwardly made her way over to his side, not removing herself from his presence for as long as she could manage.

**[Back to poor Fugaku…….**

His pride injured more than anything else the elder Uchiha left the quietness of the forest and went back out into the open where the villagers and Ookami mingled, Mikoto had just spent the last half-hour………………._convincing_ him to go and challenge Ika for the rights to one of his offspring.

Man this was bound to be awkward.

Resting his hand on the larger mans shoulder he got his attention and took him somewhere a bit less populated, where he proposed his offer.

"Ika,………...I wish to challenge you……..…..for Amaris"

**(A/N: Muhahaha! Cliffie! **

……

….

**(A/N: lol…..j/k j/k…….let's continue………**

"You…….you what?" Ika asked, his posture and voice suddenly becoming more defensive.

"Now don't take this the wrong way, but it seems that there are several people who believe that she would be happier if she were left to live in Kohona"

"By several people who mean my mate, Hoshi, don't you?" he demanded, his fists clenched.

"Well……yes……..but as much has I hate to do so, I must agree, against my free will of course but I really _must_ agree"

Ika was silent for a moment before he began to chuckle, and soon, the chuckle turned to a laugh as he took a few steps back, the shadows of the trees and the lack of sunlight engulfing him in pitch-blackness.

"You want a battle Uchiha?"

Ika's voice echoed around Fugaku, who glanced around himself, turning when he saw two terrible dark orbs piercing him from his left side, his breath catching as he backed up, a huge wolf-like monster slowly coming out of the darkness that had hidden him, he stood 8 ft tall at the shoulder, its long black and silver fur waving in the wind, its fangs which were longer than a grown mans hand dripping with saliva, and much to the head of the clan's surprise, when its mouth moved, it talked, in a faintly familiar voice.

"Bring it on"


	37. Chapter 37

**(A/N: so sorry about the wait, but i've been bogged down in shcoolwork lately, now this is a fight scene, so use your imagination, and sorry for the shortness but you knwo how evil I am ...muahaha**

Fugaku turned on his heels, kunai in hand, but it did nothing for him as the wolf-man was already gone, preparing a strike form behind……

"HOLD IT!" yelled an aged voice, a man in red and white robes with matching hat appeared between the two fathers, hands spread out to keep a distance between them.

Lord Hokage.

"Now, is this really necessary? He asked, looked back from one to another, both full-grown men still on their guard explained the reason for their attempted actions, and slowly letting his arms fall to his sides, the ever-so-wise Third came to a conclusion.

**[ Short while later…..**

Fugaku and Ika stood at opposite sides of the arena, neither once taking their glare off the other……….

Leave it to Lord Hokage to turn this into a social event of some sort, now hundreds of Uchiha, Ookami, and many other villagers of various clans were all standing at their seats, cheering for their favored man……

A poof of thick smoke in the center of the sandy circle started the match, and both beings, within the blink of an eye, were gone.

Dashing through the treetops around the rim of the arena, the Uchiha elder used his keen eyes to attempt and get a lock on his opponent, but with no luck at all, atleast, not with his natural eyes…….

"Sharinghan!" he yelled as his eyes turned deep red, three little orbs circling the middle…..no he could see his enemy clearly, crouched over behind a bush, a few more yards and there would be a dagger in his ribcage, and this will all be over……..

Closer…..closer…..there!

He took a sharp weapon from his leg pouch and flung it towards the Ookami, making a direct hit in the side-

POOF

He disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. A clone.

This was going to be a tiny bit harder than he first planned……..

Glancing across the stretch of girt and grass the green-clad man could see the wolf creature standing in the center, mocking him with a fang-filled grin.

Just wanting to put an end to this he began to run at him very quickly, the four-legged beast returned the attack, getting off its haunches and picking up speed as he barreled towards him until they were only mere feet apart….

"IRON-JAW JUTSU!" the coarse voice yelled, his entire muzzle, teeth and all, shone white as his energy levels soared, adrenaline making the white of his eyes go streaked with red veins

His last two feet leaving the ground he jumped at the Uchiha, ready to make contact and rip right through the flesh and bone; the light from his snout flashed as he hit the object with a magnitude of force, and as he had predicted it tore it in half like a knife through warm butter, maybe a little too easy…….

POOF

A clone?! His own trick had been played on him! Ika grabbed the ground with his forepaws, doing a 360-degree turn, coming face to face with-

"FIREBALL JUTSU!"

The next thing the head of the wolf clan new he was being thrown across the field, the stench of burnt fur and smoke suffocating his nostrils.

Growling in irritation he re-caught his footing and bolted for the cover of the trees, planning his next attack, but the officer stood where he was, his eyes following the bulky monster as it glared back at him, slowly pacing around the edge of the bushes…..

That's when he saw it, a glimmer of childish glee filled the monsters eyes as it formed its final assault on the chief, he threw his head up into the air, the sad sound of the creatures howl filled the air, it had an adverse effect on everyone within hearing range, both in and out of the stadium…..

The very sound itself wretched at the very soul of mortals, an overwhelming feeling sadness overcame them all, the excitement of the battle had been torn from them, this new emotion almost bringing them to their knees, covering their ears and begging for him to stop.

But to try and bring forth a feeling of remorse or pity out of the aged Uchiha was pointless of course his hardened heart and mind having stood the weary test of time, but that was not what the Ookami battling him had in mind, not by a long shot….

In a split second the hairs on Fugaku's neck rose up, everything seemed to move in slow motion as he looked to his side to see a set of blade-like fangs coming straight at him………..


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: ok ok ok, i can explain, the update took so long because 1) i am lazy, 2) christmas holidays i spent the entire time at 2 different friend's houses, and 3) i had this chapter halfway typed up days ago but the same night the video card went out on that computer so now i'm using a different one and i lost all my files on that one until we can salvage the hardrive. **

**fun.**

**well, enjoy.**

Ducking down right at the perfect time saved Fugaku from what could have been an untimely death. Feeling the very claws on the wolf's paws tear through the fabric of his shirt and barely sliced into the skin of his back.

When he sensed the beast land on the other side of him, he quickly straightened himself up.

Bad mistake.

The blood froze in his veins when he saw what Ika had in store for him.

Seven to eight smaller, but starved wolves were now encircling him, saliva dripping from their muzzles and their sickly growls. But the worst thing about these creatures was their eyes………it was almost as if their eyes were empty sockets, replaced by glowing tainted yellow orbs, watching his every move, his every twitch, his every breath.

The clan leader had seen firsthand before what a pack this large could accomplish in seconds, but there was one trick to it.

If you don't move, they won't attack.

Hopefully the same rules for wild wolves also counted for summoned ones such as these. Keeping his breaths slow and shallow, he did all he could to stay completely still, sweat pouring from his forehead as the sun beat down on him.

The minutes felt like hours, they never paused, never went away, just encircled him as if they could already imagine how tasty human flesh was, but heck it probably wouldn't be the first time they've ever tasted it before.

Resisting the urge to move, to run, to jump from dangers way and get gone, the head of the Uchiha clan strained to keep him fingers from twitching if he could help it.

POOF

The monsters were gone followed by a stream of smoke; Ika's chakra pool wasn't large enough to support that jutsu for too long. Fugaku looked to his right to see to glowing eyes glaring at him from the bushes.

In an instant whatever it was came straight for him in a head-on attack, taking advantage of the old man's being tired from the wait with the wolves, the head wolf of the Ookami clan took a well hidden dagger from his belt and clutched it tightly in his hand as he prepared for his assault.

But the Uchiha was too quick and met to block him with a kunai, the split second they were only inches apart blood splattered on both men and a shrill squeal of agonizing pain rang in their ears, leaving both to guess who it came from.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Amaris and Sasuke had slowly made their way up the stairs to get a good look at the arena, with his pet's injuries it made it very difficult for her, but the youngest of the Uchiha family just coaxed and lead her every step of the way.

whine

The white beast just wanted to rest, the staircase proving to best her.

"Come on Ammy, we need to get to the top before the battle is over" he urged, tugging at her harness, but she wouldn't budge.

"Outoto, what are you still doing down here?" said Itachi as he was instantly behind his little brother, his sudden appearance unnerving both the boy and his canine companion.

"She won't go up the stairs" he mumbled, fumbling the leash behind his back between embarrassed fingers.

"sigh come on Sasuke, get on up there" he ordered him before picking the white beast up and carrying her the rest of the way, sure she was heavier than he expected but he still beat his brother to the top of the stairs.

When the raven-haired boy reached the side of the railing and looked down a lump caught in his throat. His father was surrounded by demon wolves…………

Feeling his pet come instinctively to his side, Sasuke used her back as a brace to help him get a better view of what was going on.

He could feel how nervous Amaris was; she was quiet and still, not even panting in this heat, watching intently at the fight at hand.

He only felt her breath again through his feet when the smoke showing that the jutsu was over rose up into the wind, but she started shifting uncomfortably when Ika ran out from his hiding place in the bushes, the next thing Sasuke knew his stand was gone and he fell to the ground, the next thing her heard was a loud and terrible cry of pain.


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: wow, two updates in one day, but that's just making up for my lengthy vacation, if i dont get enough reviews it will take longer to update, reviews make me happy and happiness makes me update )**

Everything had happened all too fast.

The blood splatter, the cries from both the field and the crowd which had attended the arena battle, Sasuke's screams.

Now a very sad and very tired little Uchiha boy was inside a tent of an old Ookami medicine woman, only he had been allowed inside here so he could stay with his friend, the dying Amaris.

He kept one smaller hand buried in her deep, shaggy white coat as his wet black eyes took the time to look around the abode of the elderly woman.

The cloth was crimson red, with a golden border, faint images that had been sewn into the fabric told on endless eerie stories with unknown meanings and lessons.

The roof was adorned with thick branches covered by tangled and frayed ropes which fastened glass bottles and powdered bowls which gave the tiny room a nauseous smell.

The only light in the dim room was from torches placed around the center, casting an orange-red glow across the small boy's features.

-Whine-

Ammy was breathing in deeply and slowly, the cloth tied around her middle was becoming overly soaked and would have to be changed soon.

Trying to soothe her he rubbed an area on the side of her neck, right behind the ear, quietly murmuring prayers for her to be alright.

That's when light flooded the cave-like room, stinging both boy and wolf's eyes.

It was the old lady.

Her wrinkles covered her entire face, her clothes looked just as gallant as the décor of her tent, but the raven-haired boy didn't pay too much attention to it as his eyes were watching her hands, they skillfully and gently removed the wraps, letting them set open as she grabbed a bowl and a few of the vials from above her, snapping their ropes as she did so.

"Keep her distracted" said the medicine woman, her hands covered in green goo she had just concocted in the bowl.

Hunching over to where her head was in his lap he did what he could to keep her calm as the stinging salve was applied to the deep wound.

After finishing her treatment she wrapped the wound back up with a fresh cloth and stood to leave.

"The wound needs time to heal, be sure and don't allow her to stand" and with that, she was gone, leaving the Uchiha and the Ookami to sit and silently wait for what fate might bring.

Meanwhile, Ika had wondered off into the forest to collect his thoughts, not wanting to face what he might have done.

None of this would have happened if he had just let her go join the city defense core, but no, he just had to be overprotective and old-fashioned, and now in the process of trying to keep his only daughter safe, he may have spilled her blood by his own hand.

Sasuke laid his back against one of the fluffy pillows which adorned the floor in the mini-medic center, his arms behind his head and Amaris' head on his stomach, she had fallen asleep not too long ago, but rest didn't come so easy for the littlest Uchiha.

He stared up at the ceiling, where the pictures kept on going, after staring at them long enough he realized they told a story, but the pictures were so faded and the strain to see them so tiring, he eventually closed those onyx-black eyes of his and fell asleep himself.

XxxxxxxXxxxxxxX

Later on, a high-ranking member of the Uchiha clan silently entered the camp, his chakra senses leading him straight to his otouto.

Slightly pulling back the cover to the entrance of the dark red tent, Itachi entered the room, having to duck his head to keep from walking straight into objects which were cumbersomely hung from the ceiling.

Kneeling down to his brother's lightly-snoring form, he couldn't help but chuckle as he pulled some stray hair which had been caught in his mouth away and to the side, wondering how had such a small child's life gotten so…………….eventful over the past few months?

Slowly tucking his hands under the smaller child's back and knees, the clan prodigy slowly lifted him up to return him home for the night, frankly as nice and normal as these people appeared, his training and instincts told him to do otherwise.

As the long haired teenager left, the sleeping wolf awoke, her eyes slightly opening to see her owner leaving in very capable hands, and with that decided in her mind she closed her eyes once more and drifted back into her own dreamland.


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: wow...2 reviews...i'm overjoyed...allwell, this will be ending soon, and I'd like to dedicate this entire story to my most faithful reviewer, K94ever, for always supporting and reviewing my updates, and thank you spazmonkey for reviewing, i appreaciate every single one**

Sasuke hardly touched his dinner, being drowsy from his nap and worry for his friend destroyed any hunger he had. After excusing himself from the table he went outside on the back porch and sat on the steps overlooking the pond.

A part of him wanted to know how Amaris was doing, but a much larger part of the small boys mind didn't want to, out of fear.

After the red evening sun had almost set and the creatures of the night were just coming out of their daylong slumber; the young Uchiha could sense a larger body sit next to him.

Both children sat on the steps together, one deep in though, the other just ready to be there if a human napkin was in need.

Looking up at his Nii-san after what seemed like hours, but was really no more than five minutes, Sasuke felt a pain in his chest grow so much, it hurt, but he wouldn't, no, he couldn't cry, not while Itachi was here.

Sensing his otouto's inner pain, the clan prodigy lifted his arm and rested his skilled hand and rest it on the raven-haired boy's back, offering some comfort for him.

It wasn't even 10 seconds later before the eldest found his arms suddenly full of his little brother, clinging to his gray shirt, crying his onyx eyes out.

Mother Uchiha peeked out the edge of the door, a simple glance from her older son told her she was not needed, and she left them alone.

//////////-X-\\\\\\\\\\

His back resting against a wall, Itachi Uchiha hadn't slept all night, but instead stayed awake to care for his sibling, comforting and coaxing him.

He had to endure many tears and many bug bites before he had finally wailed himself to sleep, but instead of taking him to bed or dropping him off in the care of his mother, he had decided to use this as an opportunity to in some way, become closer to his otouto.

Feeling the smaller, warmed body in his lap move, he watched as tired, red eyes half-lidded looked around, taking in their surroundings briefly before closing once more, resting once more in the comfort of a brother's embrace.

Grunting as he stood to his feet, the long-haired teenager slowly let the younger down, steadying him as he caught his footing, rubbing the sleep form his eyes as his nii-san pulled some hair that had been stuck in place by the tears he had shed the previous night out of the way.

With that they both walked side-by-side back into the house, Itachi to shower and get a change of clothes to replace his damp shirt; Sasuke to go and eat something, his mind decided that what happens happens, and either way, life will go on.

"Good Morning Sasuke" his mother chirped, cheery as usual as she prepared some rice and green tea for breakfast.

Looking over he noticed that his father was not in his ritualistic spot at the end of the table.

"Mother, where's Father?" said Sasuke as he took a drink of the water that she had set in his place.

"He and some other officers were called upon this morning to see to it that the Ookami clan's departure went as smoothly as possible, they've been at it since before sunrise"

But she was speaking to empty air, as before she could even finish her sentence Sasuke was gone, the pit-pat of his feet heard running down the dirt road.

()-X-()

His lungs burning and bare fee tin need of a good washing, the boy arrived at the now empty forest-grounds, where only hours before and entire clan had been residing.

Gone. They were all gone.

Looking across the field, he noticed a pile of disturbed ground, it was a grave.

Too small to have been an adult, and too thin to have been a child, there was only one thing that it could have been.

Falling to his knees, his fingers digging into the grass before him, he could only wonder why……….why did she have to go………..and he didn't even get to say goodbye…………

In his grief he almost didn't notice someone walk up behind him, it could have been only one of two people, neither of which he really wanted to be around at this moment in time.

"P-please………….go away…………..leave me alone to grieve………..please" he begged, a single tear falling from his scarred eyes, the droplet of salty water falling the path of his scar down his face.

Feeling something touch his shoulder, he shrugged it off, trying to bury his head down more to hide his shame of his emotions.

That's when suddenly the entire side of his marred face was wet. Wet with saliva.

Falling backwards he opened his eyes widely to be pounced on by an overjoyed white, furry creature.


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: wow, lots of reviews for chapter 40 , well, like i said before this is the final installment of Tear-Stained Scars, but because of the overflow of reaction to my ending this story, I have decided to make a sequel! it will be pretty much Sasuke and Amaris centric mostly and takes place during/after his academy days, and there was no massacre so ya, you guys get to see my version of a 'normal' teenage Sasuke...muahaha...anyway, i have no title for it yet but i'm working on it, thank you all for your wonderful and encouraging reviews and i hoep you all share the same enthusiasm for its sequel. now, on with the final chapter!**

After realizing what had quite literally 'hit him', Sasuke wrapped small arms around the creature, embracing it in a hug.

"Amaris! You're alive" he exclaimed, stating the obvious.

"Sasuke? What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be at home" a deeper, older voice said not but a few feet behind him.

Looking behind his back quickly, seeing his father standing there, his arms folded. He quickly stood to his feet, seeing what the man wanted of him.

"A-are they all gone? The entire Ookami clan?" he asked looking across the forest floor which they had camped on.

"Yes, they are heading home, to some village across the 'great mountains' or something like that, nothing I or any of Kohona's best historians have ever heard of before"

In awe that there was something that those stuffy old people didn't know, the raven-haired boy took a brief moment to comprehend it, right before something cold and wet touched his hand.

It was Ammy's nose, nudging him to come along as his father had already walked away.

Running at a brisk pace to catch up the longer-legged clan leader, the small Uchiha and the big white wolf were running side-by-side to keep up with him.

"But if Ammy is here, then what's in the grave?" he asked curiously, looking up at his dad.

"Last night one of the Ookami clan males challenged Ika for leadership, as you can guess it didn't end well for him"

"Ooh" the small child muttered.

(irritated whine)

He looked behind himself to see the white beast pawing at him before turning her side to face him, he recgonised the positioning, it was the same that the Ookami used when mounting their riding wolves.

Trying hard to remember how Ika had shown him to do the day before, he grabbed a handful of long, ivory hair and pulled himself up, expecting for his feet to almost touch the ground, but it was not so as Amaris had used a growth jutsu and was now almost as tall as Fugaku at the shoulder.

The Elder of the Uchiha clan didn't act too surprised when the horse-like creature ran on past him at a steady past, his youngest son clinging on with hands and legs wrapped tightly around the animal's waist.

His initial fear of falling soon faded away and Sasuke soon found himself encouraging her to run faster, through the woods and over the roof tops of Kohona, a small spread across his face.

A tear of sheer joy fell from his eyes, everything was so right in the world right now, if only it would last forever!

Seeing his brother somewhat off in the distance, he slowed the beast beneath him down to a mere jog, deciding not to look inferior in his nii-san's presence he brought his sleeve to his face to dry off his tear-stained scars.


	42. AN

Btw…

incase any of you were wondering, the sequel is tagged under just sasuke, the title is : Scars of the Present

oh, and sorry ahead of time for the typo in ch.1, you'll see what i mean...


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